B 


ADDRESS 


BY 


KEMP  P.  BATTLE,  LE.  D. 


ON    THE 


LIFE  AND  SERVICES 


OF 


Brigadier  General  Jethro  Sumner, 


BATTLE  GROUND 


OF 


Guilford  Couri~  House, 


JULY  4TH.   1891. 


GREENSBORO: 

Reece  &  Elani,  Book  and  Job  Printers. 

i8qi. 


Ct)e  Hibtarp 

of  t!)e 

Qnit)et0itp  of  jfl5ottl)  Carolina 


Collection  of  j^ort^  Caroliniana 
%\iiQ  book  toa0  presenUti 


^  rt-V: 


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ADDRESS  b>«€«vcs*.^ 


KEMP  P.  BATTLE,  LL.  I) 


ON    THE 


LIFE  KND  SERVICES 


Brigadier  General  Jethro  Sumner, 


BATTLE  GROUND 


OF 


Guilford  Court  House, 

JULY  4TH.   1891. 


GREENSBORO: 

Reece  &  Elam,  Book  and  Job  Printers. 

1 891. 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arciiive 

in  2010  witii  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


http://www.archive.org/details/addressonlifeserOObatt 


The  President  of  the  Gjilford  Battle-Grouud  Com- 
pany, who,  with  wonderful  energ;y  and  success,  has  been 
making  green  the  memories  of  the  warriors,  who,  on  the 
15th  of  March,  1781,  1 10  years  ago,  on  this  spot  inflicted 
on  the  disciplined  arm\^  of  Cornwallis  the  blow  which 
saved  the  Carolinas  from  slavery,  has  caused  to  be  trans- 
ported the  remains  of  General  Jethro  Sumner  from,  the 
wilds  of  Warren  county  to  yonder  green  mound.  The 
heavy  stones,  which  by  the  care  of  his  daughter,  were 
over  his  dust,  have  been  reverently  taken  down  and  as 
reverently  re-erected  here.  It  is  my  duty  to-day  to  en- 
deavor to  aid  the  noble  efforts  of  our  President  in  sweep- 
ing away  the  dust  which  has  accumulated  over  the  his- 
tory of  this  patriot  of  1776. 

The  task  has  not  been  an  easy  one.  The  facts  of  his 
career  were  only  obtainable  by  diligent  re-search  through 
many  manuscripts  of  a  public  nature  and  through  numer- 
ous volumes  relating  to  the  history  of  Virginia  and  the 
Carolinas  and  of  the  United  States.  His  Family  Bible, 
his  private  papers,  his  correspondence  with  his  intimate 
friends,  have  been  in  the  vicissitudes  of  years  irretrieva- 
bly lost.  If  I  do  not  depict  with  such  detail  as  you  would 
like  large  parts  of  his  career,  you  must  attribute  the  fail- 
ure, not  to  want  of  industry  on  my  part,  but  to  the  de- 
struction of  the  family  records,  so  characteristic  of  this 
res'less,  rapidly  changing  population  of  ours. 

We  know  nothing  of  Gen.  JethroSumnersfamily  in  Eng- 
land, whence  it  came.  It  must  have  been  one  of  respecta- 
bility and  substance,  (or  we  find  his  grand -father  William 
Sumner  becomiingafree-holderof  Virginia  soon  after  Wil- 
liam and  Mary  ousted  from  the  English  throne  Mary's 
tyrannical  father,  James  II.     He  came  about  the  time  of 


4 


i:ic  I'Liiioval  b\"  the  clK.-lcric  Gn\-frn.i!-  Xich^-l^-n  v(  ihc 
c:q->itr)l  from  JanustowTi  to  WilliamsburL;  and  (»f  the  fVtuncl- 
irig  of  till'  >cc()ncl  collcg'c  in  America,  the  noble  old  Wdl- 
liam  and  .\rar\-,  n.uned  in  lienor  of  the  new  Sox'ereigns, 
(1691).  (.)n  his  plantatiiMi,  called  Manor,  (for  Kni;lish 
w  a)-s  atid  Knglish  nanus  were  then  much  liked  j  one  mile 
trom  the  town  of  Suffolk,  he  r.used  his  tijbacco  and  his 
Corn  anil  wheat,  ami  after  the  fashi(.in  of  the  da}",  his 
ljl<")0(Jeil  h(xrses  and  fat  cattle,  while  a  fimil\-  of  fi\'e  bo\'s 
and  one  daughter  grew  up  around   him. 

The  name  of  the  daughter  has  not  come  elown  to  us 
The  names  of  the  fi\'e  bo)'s  were  Jethro,  John,  James,  Wil- 
liam and  Dempsex".  It  i>  altogether  probable  that  Jethro 
was  the  oldest.  The  right  of  j>rimo-geniture  then  ex- 
i.>ted  and  was  dear  to  the  lantl-holders,  w  ho  had  not  lost 
their  English  lo\'e  of  aggrandizing  the  famil\-  name  by 
entailing  the  principal  homestead  on  the  oldest  son.  I 
hnd  that  Jethro  Sumner  was  in  1743  one  of  the  first  ves- 
trymen of  the  Episcopal  church  at  Suffolk,  and  his  oldest 
Son,  Thomas,  was  in  his  stead  four  x'cars  afterwards- 
General  Sumner  in  his  will  refers  to  the  "  Manor  planta- 
ti'in"of  his  brother  in  Virginia.  These  facts  seem  to  show 
that  Jethro,  the  elder,  inherited  the  paternal  lanel. 

They  are  niTt  conclusive,  however.  There  is  a  seem- 
ingly well  authenticated  tradition  that  he  married  a 
Mealthy  woman.  This  may  have  enabled  him  to  own  a 
"Manor  i)lantation"  near  his  native  place,  to  attain  the 
dignity  of  a  vestr\'man,  and  de\-ol\-e  the  same  on  his  eld- 
est SOU- 

Jcthro  Sumner,  the  elder,  died  early,  leaving  three  chil- 
dren, Thomas,  alrcad}'  named,  Jethro  and  Sarah.  Tliomas 
lix'ed  man\-  years  and  died  a  bachelor,  though  not  child- 
less. General  Sumner's  will  shows  that  he  did  not  devise 
h.is  "Manor  plantation"  to  him,  but  bce]ueathed  liim  onl)- 
.1  legac}'  in  money. 


5 

Sarah  inarried  a  man  with  the  singular  name  of  Rush- 
Avorms,  whose  family  seems  to  have  become  extinct. 

Jethro  Sumner,  the  younger,  was  born  in  1733  and  was 
probably  about  twelve  years  of  age  at  the  death  of  his 
father.  How  long  he  had  been  deprived  of  a  mother's 
care  we  do  not  know.  There  is  a  tradition  that  he  was 
well  cared  for  by  his  mother's   mother. 

It  is  important  to  understand  the  influences  by  which 
his  character  was  moulded  and  his  ph}-sical  powers  fitted 
for  the  rough  life  he  was  destined  to  undergo.  To  use 
the  word  so  much  a  favorite  with  scientists,  what  were 
his  environmients  in  childhood  and  bo\'hood? 

His  father,  as  I  have  stated,  was  a  vestrymian  of  a  par- 
ish of  the  church  of  England,  that  of  Suffolk.  Associa- 
ted with  him  was  Andrew  Meade,  one  of  the  wealthiest 
and  m.ost  influential  men  of  his  da)',,  father  of  Richard 
Kidder  Meade,  one  of  Washington's  m.ost-  trusted  aides- 
decamp  throughout  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  grand- 
father of  the  eminent  Bishop  William  Meade,  who  re- 
vived the  Episcopal  church  in  Virginia  and  whose  book 
on  the  "Old  Churches  and  Families  of  Virginia"  is  a 
store-house  of  valuable  information.  With  Meade  and 
Sumner  were  Edward  and  John  Norfleet,  Lemuel  Rid- 
■dick,  Daniel  Pugh  and  John  Gregory,  members  of  prom- 
inent families  in  Virginia  and  North  Carolina.  It  was  the 
custom  for  the  heads  of  the  great  families  of  each  neigh- 
borhood to  be  placed  on  the  vestries  because,  as  church 
and  State  were  united,  they  were  civil  as  well  as  ecclesi- 
astical officers.  They  levied  taxes  and  enforced  the  laws. 
Most  of  the  Burgesses  who  made  the  laws  were  vestry- 
men. In  the  old  vestry  lists  appear  George  Washing- 
ton, Peyton  Randolph,  Edmund  Pendleton,  General  Nel- 
son, Governor  Page,  Richard  Henry  Lee,  George  Mason 
and  hundreds  of  others,  the  best  men  of  Virginia. 
While  nominal  adhesion  to   the  Church  of  England   was 


required,  no  exhibition  of  piety  or  relig-ious  behaviour- 
was  a  condition  pre:edent  or  sub.^.cquent  for  holdini^  the- 
office.  In  many  cases  parsons  were  not  patternsfor  their 
flocks.  I  give  onh'  one  instance  out  of  man_\- to  illustrate 
tliis  statement.  One  of  the  colonial  parsons  engaged  iii 
a  fisticuff  fight  with  his  vestry  an  i  signalized  his  success 
over  his  adversaries  b)-  a  triumphant  sernion  on  the  f  )1- 
h>wing  Sunday  on  the  text  from  the  prophet  Xehemiah, 
"  I  contended  with  them  and  cursed  them,  and  sm<^te 
certain  of  theiTi  and  plucked  off  their  hair."  It  i-^  to  the 
credit  of  the  \'estr>-  of  Suffolk  that  they  ejected  froni 
their  church  one  Balfour  who  was  guilty  of  drunkenness 
and  profanit)'.  Of  course  there  were  numbers  of  ex- 
cellent men  like  Commissar\-  Hlair,  but  when  bad  exam- 
ples were  not  uncommon  it  could  not  be  expected  that  the 
laity  should  have  a  much  higher  standard  of  Godly  piet>-. 
The  Kast  Virginia  planters  of  Colonial  days  were  a 
race  of  striking  virtue's,  but  with  man\'  defects  both  as  tc/ 
character  and  conduct.  The>'  were  high  spirited,  brave- 
and  truthful.  The\-  were  loyal  to  the  English  v.'rown,  but 
they  understood  their  rights  and  were  alwa\-s  read)-  to 
defend  them.  As  their  plantations  supplied  them  with- 
nearly  all  the  necessaries  of  life  and  they  had  a  surplus- 
'Sufficient  to  furnish  theguns  and  powder  and  shot,  the  tea 
and  coffee  and  sugar, the  ribbons,  the  laces  and  other  knick- 
nacks,  which  the  fair  sex  of  all  age^  and  under  every 
clime  must  have  to  gild  the  refined  gold  of  their  natural' 
charms,  they  were  in  heart  and  habit  independent.  The 
countrv  mansions  were  the  theatres  of  generous  hospi- 
talit}'  and  kindness.  There  was  lavish  abundance  ot 
home-made  productions.  There  was  not  myuch  travelling 
when  thift\--five  or  fort}'  miles  a  day  over  rough  roads- 
and  dangerous  ferries  were  the  rule,  but  the  people  were 
free  from  the  feverish  restlessness  engendered  hy  our 
railroads  and  steamboats.     The  occasional  visits  to  rela- 


trvcs  and  friends  on  occasions  of  weddincrs  or  natal  days 
or  Christmas  holidays,  or  to  the  great  world  at  Norfolk 
or  Richmond,  or  the  capital,  Williamsburg,  were  produc- 
tive of  more  thrilling  pleasure  than  the  frequent  and 
stale  modern  excursions  to  seaside  or  to  mountain. 

The  occasional  visits  to  the  town  gave  glimpses  into 
the  world  of  fashion.  Theatrical  companies  aped  the  act- 
ing of  London  and  Paris,  and  the  great  balls  brought  out 
powdered  wigs  and  bespangled  coats  and  magnitudinous 
hoops  anci  gorgeous  silks  and  ruffles  which  would  have 
passed  muster  in  the  circles  beyond  the  Atlantic. 

The  colonial  planters  were  devoted  to  horses,  and 
boasted  justly  that  they  owned  scions  of  the  best  racers 
of  England.  They  had  frequent  races  and  both  sexes 
thought  it  no  harm  to  bet  on  them,  the  men  heavily,  often 
to  the  impairment  of  their  fortunes,  the  ladies  seldom 
venturing  beyond  a  pair  of  gloves.  Foxes  abounded  so 
as  to  threaten  the  existence  of  lambs  and  poultry;  great 
hunts  were  not  only  a  sport  but  a  necessity.  These  were 
rounded  off  with  bountiful  feasts  and  drinking  frolics, 
thereby  causing  the  name  of  fox-hunting  to  be  synono- 
mous  with  reckless  dissipation.  Cock-fighting  and  gam- 
bling atcards  were  considered  respectable  in  those  "good 
old  days."  Grand  balls  assembled  the  young  and  the  old  for 
the  stately  minuet  and  the  lively  Virginia  reel,  and  wed- 
dings were  celebrated  with  festivities  which  lasted  for 
many  days.  They  were  a  gay  and  fun-loving  people. 
There  has  come  down  to  us  an  advertisement  which  de- 
scribes the  sports  which  doubtless  young  Jethro  often 
joined. 

First  is  to  be  a  horse-race.  Then  came  a  match  at 
cudgelling  (or  fighting  with  sticks)  for  a  hat  as  the  win- 
ner's prize.  Then  twenty  fiddlers  are  to  compete  for  a 
new  fiddle,  all  the  competitors  to  play  together  and  each 
a  different  tune.     Twelve  boys  are  to  run  1 12  yards  for  a 


hat  worth  twelve  .shiilinijs.  A  wrestling  match  follows  ,  a, 
silver  buckle  is  to  adorn  the  leg  of  the  victor.  The  pret- 
tiest girl  on  the  ground  is  to  have  a  pair  of  silk  stockings 
worth  a  "pist<de"  (a  Spanish  gold  coin  of  about  $4.00 
value).  The  nnanagcrs  a,ssufe  the  public  th.at  "this  mirth 
ts  designed  to  be  purely  innocent.' 

The  youi:;g  n'.en  learned  the  art  of  horscmansliip  not 
onl\'  in,  fox-ch.cises,  but  by  coiistant  habit  ot  visiting  and 
trav'cUing  opi  horseback.  So  deep-rooted  was  this  fash- 
ion, that  a  traveller  of  thiat  day  avers  that  he  lias  often 
seen  men  walk  P.ve  males  to  catch  a  horse  in  order  to  ride 
one. 

The  use  of  tire-arms  was  learned  b}'  practice  m  hunt- 
ing bears  ar.d  deer,  wild  turkey.s  and  squirrels,  and  other 
game  so  p.umerous  as  to  seriously  threaten  the  existence 
of  food  crop^-^  Shooting-matches,  too,  were  common, 
die  victor  not  onl\'  v/inning  the  stake,  but  receiving  the- 
plaudits  of  admiring  neighborhoods. 

There  was  little  o(  what  we  call  education.  A  few 
boys  received  college  training  at  William  and  Mary 
Still  fewer  were  sent  to  the  great  schools  or  universities 
of  England,  but  the  greater  part  were  content  with  read- 
ing and  writing  and  a  little  arithmetic.  The  writing  was 
invariably  legible,  but  much  liberty  in  spelling  v/as  al- 
lowable. Shakespeare  spelt  his  own  nam.e  in  four  differ- 
ent ways  150  years  before,  and  his  exam^pie  of  jndepen- 
cy  was  followed  in  colonial  tim.cs.  If  Washington  and 
his  generals  liad  not  fought  better  than  they  spelt,  Clin- 
ton and  Cornwallis  would  hav^e  shaken  hands  over  a  sub- 
jugated country.  In  General  Sumner's  will  the  county  of 
"  Isle  of  Wight"  is  spelled  "  Ilewhite."  The  gallant 
Murfree  writes  of  "  legenary  coors"  ( legionary  corps) .^ 
Uniformi  spelling  came  in  with  Webster's  blue-back  spell- 
mg-book.  The  colonial  gentleman  was  likewise  tocr 
proud  to  be  willing  to  submit  himself  to  the  strict  gram- 


9 

matical  rules  of  the    solemn   pedant    who    posed    as    the 
predecessor  of  Lindley  Murray. 

But  while  there  was  little  education  from  books,  there 
was  a  most  valuable  training'  from  the  exigencies  of  life 
in  a  country  full  of  natural  resources,  but  requiring  for 
their  development  incessant  watchfulness  and  incessant 
toil.  The  carrying  the  chain  and  the  compass  through 
thickets  almost  impenetrable  and  swamps  almost  impass- 
ible, the  felling  of  forests,  the  defence  from  floods,  the 
-war  of  extermination  against  w^ild  animals,  the  occasional 
march  to  help  the  settlers  of  the  mountain  lands  to  repel 
the  hostile,  or  to  barter  for  furs  with  the  friendly,  In- 
dians, the  rough  sports  on  horse  and  on  foot,  all  these, 
joined  with  watchful  criticism  and  discussion  of  their  rights 
by  charter  and  by  inheritance,  made  a  hardy,  self-reliant, 
independent,  proud  and  daring  people.  They  were,  as  a 
rule,  respectful  to  those  in  authority,  friendly  and  courteous 
to  their  equals,  kind  and  considerate  to  their  inferiors,  but 
equally  ready  when  angered  by  encroachment  upon  their 
rights  to  resist  fiercely,  to  avenge  insults,  to  crush  insub- 
ordination even  with  cruelty. 

While  the  bulk  of  the  Eastern  Virginia  planters  pre- 
served the  characteristics  I  have  described,  there  were 
great  modifications  in  individual  instances  caused  by  the 
New  Light  revival  of  religion  about  the  time  when  the 
celebrated  George  Whitefield  passed  through  the  colonies, 
and  by  the  thunders  of  his  eloquence  mightily  stirred  the 
hearts  of  the  people.  Many  were  moved  to  discard  the 
prevailing  amusements  as  sinful,  but  in  the  main  the  old 
ways  and  sentiments  continued  until  rudely  interrupted 
by  the  terrible  destruction  of  wealth  caused  by  the  war  of 
Independence.  In  some  communities  they  lingered  for 
many  years  afterwards,  even  up  to  the  recent  great  civil 
war. 

I    have  been    minute   in    depicting    the  habits  and  the 


10 


cl)aractcr  of  the  people  amon;4  whom  )-ounj4'  Jcthro  Suin- 
rii.r  WTi^  triiinecl  up  tc  nKinhoocl,  because  in  describins^ 
t!:em  I  ha\'e  pictured  Idm^  His  remo\-al  to  Xorth  Caro- 
liria  did  !i.*t  chani^e  him  fur  the  better  or  for  the  worse. 

flardl}-  liad  Jetliro  Sumner  readied  maturit}'  before  a 
C(*ntest  Ijroke  (nit,  of  tremendous  influence  on  the  destinies 
(if  this  countr)-.  This  was  the  great  stru<^rgle  between 
the  h'rench  and  the  iMigHsh  for  the  ownership  of  the 
magnihccnt  territor)',  ch-ained  by  the  Mississippi  and  the 
great  lakes  and  their  tributaries.  The  French  sought  b_\- 
cunnecting  (Juebec  and  New  Orleans  with  ciiains  of  forts, 
an,l  b\'  gaining  tlie  alliance  of  powerful  Iiulian  tribes  to 
contine  rhe  Knglish  between  the  ocean  and  the  Allegha- 
nies.  If  this  plan  should  succeed  the  hated  (jauls  with 
their  cr^rrupt,  despotic  government  and  Roman  Catholic 
religi'jn,  would  dominate  the  W'estern  world,  as  under  the 
(jrand  ?iionarque,  Louis  XIV.  the>'  had  dominated  Europe. 
Tlie  Knglish  colonies  would  be  stunted  in  their  growth 
and  possibl)'  be  swallowed  up  finally  b)"  their  powerful 
neighb'jr.  The  colonies  saw  their  danger  and  frr)m 
Maine  to  Georgia  they  declared  for  war. 

In  the  early  stages  the  plans  of  the  hTeiich  were 
crowned  with  success.  Our  colonies  had  been  designedly 
kept  in  a  state  of  pupilage  to  the  mother  country.  While 
there  was  great  individual  capacitx',  the\'  had  not  been 
tauglit  to  organize  into  armies.  Looking  each  to  Eng- 
land (or  their  commerce,  and  most  of  them  for  their  cliief 
c.\ecuti\'e  and  judicial  officers  and  their  clerg\",  tlie>'knew 
little  O'f  one  another.  Their  laws  were  subject  to  the 
ro\-al  \'eto.  The\-  had  :iot  learned  the  immense  \'alue  of 
union  among  themsehces.  Their  levies  of  soldiers  were 
badl)'  supp'Tte-l  antl  badl\-  armed.  At  first  too,  the  Eng- 
lish go\-ernmeiit  supported  them  in  a  manner  feeble  and 
ajtualis'  tending  to  cripple  their  efforts.  The  officers 
sent  were  stupid  and    arrogant,  as  full  of   conceit  of  their 


1  I 

own  iinportance  as  contempt  for  the  colonists.  There 
was  disaster  almost  ever\-\vhere.  Washington  was  forced 
to  surrender  to  superior  numbers  at  Great  Meadows  in 
1754.  In  1755  the  pompous  but  brav^e  old  braggart, 
Braddock,  lost  his  army  and  his  life  near  Fort  Du 
Ouesne,  the  English  were  driven  from  Oswego,  and  from 
Lake  George  and  the  able  and  heroic  Montcalm  held 
possession  of  Louisburg,  which  commands  the  mouth  of 
the  St.  Lawrence,  Crown  Point  and  Ticonderoga  on  Lake 
Champlain,  Frontenac  and  Niagara  on  Lake  Ontario, 
Presque  Isle  on  Lake  Erie  and  the  chain  of  forts  ending 
with  Fort  Du  Ouesne  011  the  Ohio,  while  ruthless  savages 
were  la}'ing  waste  the  entire  North  West  frontier  of  the 
British  colonies. 

In  1757  the  genius  of  Pitt  changed  disaster  into  victory. 
He  gained  the  confidence  of  the  colonies  by  consulting 
their  legislatures  about  the  conduct  of  the  war.  He  prom- 
ised arms  and  ammunition,  tents  and  provisions,  the 
colonies  to  raise,  clothe  and  pa>'  the  twenty  thousand 
troops  called  into  service  with  promise  of  reimbursement 
by  parliament.  Incompetent  officers  were  replaced  by 
able  officers.  Amherst  captured  Louisburg  and  super- 
ceded Abercrombie,  who  had  lost  two  thousand 
troops  in  a  rash  assault  on  Ticonderoga.  Bradstreet  cap- 
tured Oswego.  Forbes,  aided  by  Washington,  seized 
Fort  Du  Quesne,  and  on  the  13th  of  September  the  great 
contest  was  virtuall)'  won  by  Wolfe's  heroic  capture  of 
Quebec.  Well  might  old  Governor  Dobbs  cause  his 
glorious  Thanksgiving  Hymn  to  be  sung  to  show  our 
gratification  for  such  signal  victories,  which  he  piously 
assures  the  Great  Commoner,  were  in  accordance  with 
the  prophecies  of  the  Book  of  Revelations.  The  French 
power  was  broken  and  in  the  following  year  (1760,) 
which  witnessed  the  death  of  the  old  King  George  II 
and  the  succession  of  his  grandson  George  III,  also  wit- 


1'ic->^clI  the  final  conquest    of  Canada   and   the    end  of  the 
L;d()ri(jLi.s  Llream  of  a  doniinatini;  New  France   in  the  Xew 
World.      Three  \-ears    later   the  Eng'lish   flai^    \va\'ed  o\'er 
all  the  land  from  tlie  ( )cean  to  the  Missi.ssip{)i, 
I  !-;'ivc  some  verses  of  Go\-ernor  Dobbs'  hx'mn: 

To  God,  uur  (rod's  AlmiL;hty  Name, 

Let  Britons  all  their  voices  raise, 
Ami  publish  hv  the  mouth  of  tame 

In  soni^^s  of  ioy  our  Saviour's  Praise. 

His  church  from  p.ipal  Thraldom  freed 
And  (iallir  Powers  united  Force 
■    His  great  vicegerent  he  decreed 

C)'er  Briton's  Isle  to  steer  his  course. 

From  Wood  the  British  Lion  roars 
L'prears  the  Christian  sanguine  cross, 

O'er  Eagle,  Beast,  triunaphant  soars 
With  Angels   riding  the  white  horse. 

Now  Angels  charged  with  vials  dire 
Of  Gods  Great  WTath  'gainst  Papal  Beast, 

Are  poured  forth  in  God's  great  Ire 

C)'er  Beast,  f.alse  Prophet,  Heathen  Priest. 

Let  Angels  then  in  chorus  sing 

With  us  in  Hymns  of  joy  abroad 
Hosanna  to  our  Saviour  King 

Hosanna  to  his  Christ  our  God  I 


Jethro  Stimner  was  an  actor  in  this  j^reat  strugn;le. 
Hearini^  a  letter  of  commendation  from  Governor  Dinwid- 
dle to  Colonel  Washington,  he  was  in  [758  ap[)ointed  a 
Lieutenant  in  a  \"irL,dnia  rei^iment  of  which  Wm.  H\-rd 
was  Colonel,  General  Joseph  P'orbes  beini:;  Commander- 
in-Chief  Washinij^ton  had  been  endeavorin<^  with  in- 
sufficient means,  to  defend  the  long  frontier  from  the 
terrible  savages,  whose  destruction  of  propert)'  and 
slaughter  and     torture     of    the    settlers,  old  and    _\-oung. 


'3 

iTiale  and  feirialc,  had.  been  inconceivabl)"  horrible.  Nc:, 
effectual  stoppage  could  be  put  to  their  ravai^es  without 
the  capture  of  Fort  Du  Ouesne.  Forbes  determined  to 
lead  an  expedition  against  it.  Washington  urged  that 
the  old  Braddock  road  should  be  followed.  Interested  spec- 
ulators in  Pennsylvania  persuaded  old  General  Forbes, 
now  in  the  last  stages  of  disease,  to  cut  a  new  road 
through  the  wilderness  of  that  State.  Fifty  days  were 
occupied  in  going  fifty  miles.  1^'orbes'  second  in  com- 
mand, Col.  Henr\'  Bouquet,  desirous  of  winning  all  the 
glory,  pushed  forward  Major  Grant  with  about  eight 
hundred  Highlanders  and  a  company  of  \^irginians. 
Like  Braddock's,  his  force  was  utterh*  defeated.  The 
X^irginians  saved  the  detachment  from  annihilation,  as 
they  saved  the  remains  of  Braddock's  forces.  The  win- 
ter was  coming  on.  The  fierce  winds  began  to  blow; 
the  snow  began  to  whiten  the  hills.  The  General  and  his 
council  of  war  talked  of  delaying  the  march  till  spring. 
Washington  begged  to  be  allowed  to  lead  the  van  with 
liis  provincials,  who  were  clamoring  for  an  onward  move. 
Through  all  difficulties,  watching  against  ambuscades, 
infusing  his  indomitable  spirit  into  his  men,  he  pressed  on. 
The  French  officer  saw  that  he  had  an  officer  of  brains 
and  daring  in  his  front,  and,  setting  fire  to  the  wood-work 
■of  the  fort,  he  fled  with  his  troops  down  the  Ohio.  On 
the  25th  of  November,  1758,  Washington  and  his  brave 
troops  marched  into  the  ruined  fortress.  Jethro  Sumner 
was  one  of  those  daring  men,  who  gained  for  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  race  the  control  of  the  Ohio,  and  started  their  on- 
ward march,  which  from  that  day  has  had  no  backward 
move,  and  ninet)'  years  later  climbed  the  lofty  Rockies 
and  planted  the  starr}'  flag  on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific. 
His  were  likewise  among  the  kindly  hands  which,  af- 
ter the  victory  was  gained,  reverently  and  tenderly  gath- 
ered the  bones  of  Braddock's  men,  whitened  by  the  sun, 


J4 

anu  ,iin;.U:t  the  solemn  '-ilcnce  of  tlie  inti,rmiiiablc  forest^ 
■^3.vc  them  christian  huriat.  A  great  >.it\-,  whose  smiokc 
from  a  thousand  factories  (.ver.shadow  the  scenes  of  those 
ohi  h^htin^s.  com.meniorates  b}'  its  iKune  o\  Pittsburi.^ 
tlie  sagacious  and  tlaring  war  niinister  wIm.^.  prepared  the 
victory. 

Although  \\' ashington,  after  h:s  great  object  was  gained, 
being  elected  a  member  of  the  As--embh',  rcsij^^ned  hi'^  cdo- 
nelc\"and  carried  his  kn'el\'  bride  to  enj^?,)-  the  festi\'ities  of 
Williamsburg,  Sumner  remaii'ieci  in  ser\'ice  until  liis  regi- 
ment was  disbamJeiJ  in  1761  He  '>\-as  e\-idcnt;_\- an  officer 
of  merit.  An  order  jniblished  in  the  Colonial  Records  of 
i>ur  State,  datetl  Xo\"eniber  26Lh,  1760,  from  Colonel 
Houquct,  his  superior,  shows  that  he  was  intrusted  with 
separate  com.niand  at  Fort  Bedford,  His  regiment 
marched  twice  into  tfie  Cherokee  ccjuntr)-  as  far  as  Hol- 
stoii  river,  v/hile  Coh^nel  Grant  with  ari  arm\'  of  twenty- 
six  hundred  men  terribh-  avenged  the  massacre  c;f  the 
garris(_m  of  Fort  Loudon.  For  their  services  grants  of 
land  v/ere  authorized  to  be  given  to  the  discharged  officers 
and  soldiers  who  had  served  during  the  war — five  thou- 
sand acres  to  field  officers,  three  thousand  to  captains,  two 
thousand  to  sub  altern  and  staff  officers,  two  hundred  to 
n(:)n--comimissioned  officers,  and  fifty  to  privates.  Sum- 
ner having  reached  the  grade  of  Captain.,  was  entitled  t'.> 
three  thousand  acres. 

This  war  prepared  the  way  for  Airierican  Independence. 
It  taught  the  Cohmists  their  'uvn  strength.  It  taught 
them  how  to  fight,  and  what  is  c,(  still  more  importance, 
that  they  could  fight.  When  the)'  themselves  had  pro- 
tected the  arrogant  British  regulars  from  destruction. 
when  they  had  seen  the  superiority  of  their  own  officers 
to  those  of  the  mother  country,  the  superiority  of  Wash- 
ington, for  example,  over  Braddock,  the  traditional  idea 
of  colonial    inferiority    vanished    forever.     They  learned 


^5 

the  value  of  union.  The\-  learned  the  value  of  ort^aniza- 
tion  and  discipline.  The  war  was  a  training  school  for 
.their  officers — for  Washington  and  Mercer,  Sumner  and 
Montgomer}',  Putnam  and  Morgan  and  man\-  others. 

After  his  return  to  Nansemond  the  j-oung  officer  de- 
termined to  change  his  home.  Probabl)'his  long  service 
among  the  hills  and  mountains  had  given  him  a  distaste 
to  the  drear\-  flatness  of  the  lands  which  adjoin  the  great 
Dismal  Swamp.  Onl)-  an  im^aginar}-  line  separates  our 
State  from  Virginia.  There  has  been  for  two  centuries 
51  stead)'  movem.ent  of  population  from  the  dearer  lands  of 
the  valley  of  the  James  to  the  cheaper  lands  drained  b}'  the 
streams  which  flow  into  the  Albemarle  and  the  upper  waters 
of  the  Tar.  The  Sumners,  the  Eatons,  the  Mannings, 
Smiths  of  Scotland  Neck,  the  Ransoms,  the  Armsteads, 
the  Riddicks,  the  Norfleets,  the  Saunderses,  the  Lewises, 
the  Ruffins,  the  Camerons,  the  Battles,  the  Plummers.the 
Bakers,  the  Pughs,  the  Winstons,  the  Winbornes,  the  Hun- 
ters, the  Bridgerses,  the  Thomases,  the  Taylors  and  hun- 
dreds, perhaps  thousands  of  others,  were  all  old  Virginia 
families.  Some  changed  their  homes  because,  being  young- 
er sons,  they  had  no  share  in.  the  paternal  lands;  others,  be- 
cause high  living  or  losses  by  gaming  had  worsted  their  es- 
tates; others  to  exchange  fev\' acres  for  many  equally  fertile, 
or  old  fields  for  virgin  forest,  others  to  escape  by  settlement 
among  the  rolling  hills  of  Bute  and  the  country  west- 
ward the  miasmatic  diseases  of  the  low  country.  But 
for  whatever  cause  they  migrated  the}'  changed  neither 
their  o])inions  nor  their  practices,  nor  their  business 
habits  The}'  still  sent  their  produ^^e  to  Virginia  mar- 
kets— Richmond.  Petersburg  or  Norfolk.  Returning 
wagons  brought  back  the  tea  and  coffee  and  sugar  and 
molasses  and  ladies'  finery.  The}'  kept  their  accounts  m 
both  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  currency.  Visits  to  these 
cities  for  shopping  or  pleasure  were  the  siiuitnun  bonum  of 


r6 

the  aspirati()ns  of  \-()un;^"  men  and  maidens.  Those  \vhn> 
enjoyed  tliis  entrancini^  felicit}'  were  considered  as  £(i'eater 
travellers,  and  were  reL^ardeil  with  more  envy  tli.an  those 
udic.)  now  tell  (y\  scrding-  Alpine  Summits,  or  _«;a/.int;  at 
the  dc^mes  c^f  St  Peter  or  St.  I'aul,  (ir  ch.rifferin<^  with  the 
shop  ^njds  of  Paris.  Wdien  1  was  \':iunt^  I  heard  frrim  the 
lips  of  those  who  Were  belles  .>[  \Varren_  nearly  a  hundred 
X'ears  aL(o  stories  of  the  i^^ayet}-  of  the  balls  and  the  splen- 
dor lit  the  theatres,  and  the  g'ory-eousness  of  the  dresses 
of  the  VdrL^inia  cities.  What  a  strand  State  we  would 
have  if  James  ri\'er  were  o,ur  Xortliern  boundar\'!  How 
iiiuch  wealth  and  how  m.an\-  brii^ht  sons  and  daui^^'hters 
of  ours  ha\'e  been  carried  otT  to  enrich  our  neiL^libors! 

Most  of  these  emigrants  t'rom  \'irginia  became  true 
Xorth  Carolinians.  Occasional  1\'  wr)uld  be  heard  arro- 
gant boasting  of  Virginia  superiorit}-,  as  from  the  old 
man,  menti(^netl  to  me  by  my  mother,  who  answered  all 
who  disputed  with  him,  "  Weren't  I  born  in  Jam.cs  river, 
and  oug'h'iit  I  t(^  know.-*"  But  most  of  them,  as  Jethro^ 
Sumner  did,  devoted  their  affections  and  their  energies  to 
their  adopted  State. 

Captain  Sumner  settled  at  the  court  house  of  the  new- 
county  of  Bute  fpronounceti  Boot),  named  in  honor  of 
the  first  instructor  and  niinister  of  George  III,  wdio  be- 
came so  odious  that  a  tavorite  amusement  among  the 
populace  was  with  groans  of  derision  to  throw  an  old 
jack-boot  into  a  bon-fire  and  dance  around  the  crackling 
effig"y.  An  early  General  Assembly  of  free  North  Car(-)- 
lina  expunged  the  name  of  the  odious  Marquis  from  the 
map  and  substituted  Warren  and  Franklin  as  names  o( 
the  new^  counties  carved  from  the  old.  The  court  house 
of  Bute  was  a  few  miles  to  the  south  of  the  present 
county  seat  of  Warren.  Here  Jethro  Sumner  set  up  his 
liousehold  gods. 

It  is  a   lovely   country.     A   traveller,  a    captain   in   the 


Hritish  army,  J.  F.  D.  Smyth,  who  visited  all  parts  of  the 
country  south  of  the  Potomac  and  Ohio  about  a  year  be- 
fore the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  says, 
"There  is  an  extreme  valuable  body  of  rich  hi_<^h  land 
that  extends  five  miles  around  Bute  court  house;  this 
whole  tract  is  strong  and  fertile  in  an  uncommon  degree. 
There  is  scarcely  a  pine  tree  to  be  found  within  that  dis- 
tance, although  the  surrounding  woods  on  ever\'  side  are 
much  mixed  with  them."  Governor  Josiah  Martin,  in  a 
letter  to  Earl  Hillsborough  in  1772,  mentions  having 
passed  through  Granville  and  Bute,  and  is  strong  in  his 
expressions  of  praises  of  their  preeminence  both  in  soil 
and  cultivation  as  well  as  in  the  manners  and  condition 
of  the  inhabitants.  He  was  preparing  to  buy  a  home 
here  when  he  was  driven  from  our  State. 

We  do  not  know  the  exact  date  of  Sumner's  settle- 
ment in  Bute.  It  was  certainly  prior  to  1769.  Pv'Ir.  Wm. 
J.  Norwood  has  in  his  possession  an  accountbook  kept  with 
all  the  neatness  of  penmanship  and  durability  of  black 
ink  so  remarkable  among  our  ancestors.  It  contains  the 
dealings  of  the  neighbors  with  the  keeper  of  the  tav- 
ern at  Bute  Court  House.  It  shows  among  many  others 
the  account  of  General  Sumner  from  November  1769  to 
November,  1774.  It  effectually  contradicts  the  statement 
of  Captain  Smyth  as  to  his  occupation.  He  says  Sumner 
pursued  the  business  of  tavern-keeper,  and  that  more 
than  one-third  of  the  general  officers  of  the  American 
army  had  the  same  occupation,  and  were  chiefly  indebted 
to  that  circumstance  for  their  rank.  He  gives  as  a  reason 
that  by  this  public  calling  their  principles  became  known, 
and  their  ambitious  views  were  excited  by  the  variety 
of  the  company  they  entertained.  Smyth's  book  shows 
violent  false  prejudices  throughout.  In  his  opinion  Wash- 
ington was  a  very  poor  General,  but  a  most  cunning 
demagogue,  his  moderation   and  disclaimer  of  desire   for 


i8 


('ttice  being'  onl\'  for  electioneering^  purposes.  The  book 
is  x'akiaij'.e  in  main-  respects,  but  utterly  unreliable  in  its 
statements  about  the  officers  ot  our  arm\\  It  would  ha\'e 
been  no  Lliscredit  to  Sumner  if  he  had  been  the  keeper  of 
the  o;ii\-  inn  at  the  Court  House,  but  this  account-book 
shows  that  he  was  the  owner  of  it  and  rented  it  to  one 
]'dliott  fo)- £36  per  annum.  Sm\'th  states,  as  we  learn 
frnm  other  sources,  that  he  had  married  ''a  N'ouni;"  woman 
of  g-ood  familv",  uhn  l^rouyht   him   a    hands(ime   fortune." 

Captain  Sumner  w  a--  aj)pointed  sheriff  in  I7<p2.  The 
office  was  a  ver_\'  diiiuified  anil  responsible  one.  The  ap- 
l^ointment  wa<  b\-  the  Gcnx-rnor  of  one  out  of  three  nom- 
inated by  the  justices  of  the  county.  I  ha\'e  a  copy  of 
his  Commission,  sic^ned  b)-  Gov.  Jo.  Martin  at  Hills- 
borough at  iVUL;aist  Term,  1773.  it  is  a  i^roof  of  the  hii^'h 
character  and  business  habits  of  Sumner,  that  while  there 
had  been  <.;'reat  ujjrisim^rs  of  angr\-  people  in  some  of  the 
counties  almost  adi()ining  Hutc,  and  loud  complaints  of 
extortiiMi  and  eml)ez/.lement  in  those  and  man}'  others, 
there  were  no  cliarges  of  such  criminal  conduct  in  l^ute. 
There  were  no  Bute  militia  in  Tr\'on's  army  wdiich  march - 
eci  against  the  Regulators  in  1771,  from  which  I  gather 
that  w  hile  the}"  themselves  were  not  disposed  to  join  the 
insurrection  the}'  knew  too  well  the  sufferings  of  their 
neighbors  to  be  willing  to  crush  them  by  armed  violence. 

The  account-book  of  Bute  Court  House  tavern  confirms 
ni}-  statement  that  Sumner  and  his  neighbors  retained  the 
liabits  and  feelings  of  Eastern  Virginia.  The  Xevv  Light 
and  Great  Reviwd,  if  the}'  made  an}'  impression  on 
them,  it  was  onl}'  t'-ansitor}'.  We  see  glimpses  of  the  same 
high-li\ing  and  love  of  fun.  We  sec  notices  of  a  Court 
J  louse  ball,  of  a  "bull-dance,"  the  progenitor  pr()babl}" 
ol  the  modern  "stag,"  of  a  game  oi'  pitch,  (quoits,  prob- 
abl}',,  of  which  Chief  }us;ice  Marshall  was  especiall}' 
-ond);  o[  games   at   cards,  at    which    one    of  the    players 


19 

"  t^ot  broke "  and  borrowed  mone\'  i^f  the  landlord,  of 
/"  10  paid  b>-  Suinner  for  the  erection  of  a  batter>',  which 
was  a  wooden  wall  for  plaj-ing  the  i^ood  old  L,fame  <)f 
"fives  ;"  of  a  barbecue  costing;  ^6,  /s  and  3d,  c(i\en  b)' 
William  Park;  and  of  fox-hunts  of  course.  All  these 
were  accompanied  b\'  drinking  of  liquor  in  some  shape. 
Sometimes  it  is  rum  pure  and  simple,  or  as  we  sa\- 
"straight;"  more  seldom  it  is  brandy,  never  whiske}',  but 
usually  it  is  some  mixture.  The  most  common  is  bumbo, 
composed  of  rum,  water,  sugar  and  nutmeg;  but  we  have 
also  juleps  (spelt  julips)  and  grog  and  flip;  sometimes  we 
see  wine  and  sangaree  and  cider  too  (spelt  cyder).  There 
is  an  entry  which  the  rising  generation  hardly  under- 
stands. After  a  "rousing  frolic"  is  a  charge  for  "broke 
glasses."  This  suggests  the  foolish  custom  of  winding 
up  the  feast  with  some  jolly  toast  and,  after  drinking  it, 
smashing  the  tumblers  against  the  ceiling,  typif\'ing  that 
having  conferred  a  pleasure  so  di\'ine,  they  should  never 
henceforth  be  debased  to  any  ignoble  use. 

And  in  this  account-book  we  detect  William  Person 
(called  Billy  Parsons)  and  Green  Hill,  members  of  the 
General  Assembly,  engaged  in  what  w^e  consider  a  crime, 
but  was  then  expected  of  all  candidates — that  is,  treating 
at  elections.  They  are  charged  with  their  proportions  of 
"liquors  expended  in  the  court  house  while  voting,  10  shil- 
lings; also  toddy  is  and  3d.     Rum  is  6d.     Toddy  is  2d." 

There  was  a  strange  hallucination  in  regard  to  spirit- 
uous liquors  in  the  "good  old  days."  The  men  of  that 
generation  thought  they  were  drinking  health  and  jo\-and 
long  life.  In  truth  they  were  drmking  down  gout  and 
dropsy,  and  liver  disease,  and  kidney-troubles,  and  short 
life.     There  were  few  old  men  of  that  generation. 

General  Sumner  was  like  the  rest — he  kept  the  prevail- 
ing fashion.  Smyth  says  he  was  a  "facetious"  man. 
Doubtless  he  told    good    stories  about  his  experiences  iii 


20 


ihc  ai'iii}',  aiul  the  peculiarities  of  the  unlettered  back- 
woodsmen with  whom  as  sheriiT  he  had  dealinj.^'s.  He 
was  "of  person  lustx'  and  rather  handsome."  sa}'s  Sm}'th, 
that  is  he  had  a  stroni,^  body  and  vij^^orous  health,  and  ;i 
fine  manh'  bearing;'.  The  cx'nical  Kn^lishman  of  a  na- 
tir)n  of  grumblers,  chronicles  that  his  dinner  was  excel- 
lent. All  those  colonial  ijentlemen  understood  the  art  of 
giving"  good  dinners.  The  woods  swarmed  with  fat  tur- 
keys, tame  and  wild.  Pigs  were  alwa\"s  ready  to  supph' 
'the  luscious  barbecue.  Steaks  of  \-enison  or  tender 
bee\'es,  hot  biscuits  and  glorioLis  corn-bread,  nn\y  to  be 
found  on  Southern  tables,  savor\-  ham  and  fresh  fish  from 
the  fish  trap  in  the  creek,  together  with  abundant  \'ege- 
tables  and  the  jams  and  preserx'es  and  plum  pudding, 
which  his  \'oung  \vife  with  her  snowy  aprnn  and  her 
>.tatel\'  courtes)-  knew  so  well  how  to  make;  all  these  and 
more  smoked  on  the  table,  while  the  odors  (^f  nutmeg  and 
mint  fioated  in  the  air.  We  can  easil}-  call  to  our  mind 
the  fethro  Sumner  of  that  da\',  at  the  age  of  fort\'-two, 
his  long  hair  combed  back  so  as  full)'  to  expose  his  rubi- 
cund face,  tied  in  a  cue  behind,  his  countenance  frank 
and  open,  looking  one  straight  in  the  face  with  a  clear, 
bright  e>'e,  his  body  inclining  to  portliness,  as  became 
the  dex'ourer  of  good  cheer;  vigorous  from  out-door  ex- 
ercise, on  foot  or  on  horse,  in  sport  and  on  business,  hav- 
ing the  air  of  authority  as  became  the  executive  officer 
of  a  C(Hmt_\-  in  those  monarchial  da\-s  when  official  sta- 
tion inspired  far  more  awe  than  at  present;  as  became  too 
a  man  v  ho  had  learned  the  art  of  command  in  actual 
'ser\'ice  in  an  arm}-  where  officers  and  men  were  widely 
separated  by  social  as  well  as  arm)-  rank;  as  became,  too, 
the  (Mxner  o^.  a  great  estate  and  man\-  laborers.  At  the 
dinner-table^  in  the  familiarit)-  of  social  intercourse  with 
a  )'oung  militar)-  officer  of  w-ealth  and  good  blood,  he 
showeLl  appreciation  of  a  good  joke,  a  qualit)'  wdiich  has 


21 

not  yet  died  out  in  North  Carolina.  I  think  better  of  him 
for  that.  Capt.  William  Biggs,  an  admirer  of  Chief  Ju.s- 
tice  Merrimon.  and  Col.  Henr\'  A.  Uowd,  an  admirer  of 
Senator  Vance,  were  once  rather  heatedly  discus.sing  the 
relative  excellencies  of  their  favorites;  "  I  admit,"  said 
Biggs,  "that  Vance  can  tell  a  joke  better  than  Merri- 
mon"—  "Stopright  there!"  shouted  Dowd,  "  I  tell  )'ou  no 
man  but  a  smart  man  can  tell  a  good  joke."  It  is  a  pleas- 
ant picture — these  two — the  Bute  county  sheriff  and  the 
English  officer  exchanging  their  army  anecdotes  over 
their  nuts  and  wine,  or  rather,  I  should  say,  over  their 
hickory  nuts  and  bumbo,  in  the  beautiful  month  of  No- 
vember, 1774,  both  too  polite  to  discuss  the  angry  ques- 
tions which  will  in  three  years  arra)'them  in  opposite  ar- 
mies at  Germantown,  thirsting  for  each  other's  blood,  the 
host  an  American  colonel,  the  guest  a  British  captain. 
Notwithstanding  Sumner's  desire  to  be  agreeable  to  his 
guest,  Smyth  notices  that  he  was  a  man  "of  violent  prin- 
ciples "  in  regard  to  the  pending  quarrel  between  the 
mother  country  and  the  colonies.  Being  a  man  of  ar- 
dent temper  he  embraced  the  cause  of  the  colonists 
with  his  whole  soul.  A  few  words  as  to  the  nature  of 
this  difference. 

The  last  French  and  Indian  war  left  Great  Britain  with 
a  debt  so  enormous  in  the  eyes  of  the  financiers  of  that 
day  that  it  seemed  impossible  to  pay  it,  $700,000,000.  To 
an  Englishman,  the  claim  that  the  colonies  should  help 
to  pay  these  expenses  incurred  partly  for  their  own  ben- 
efit seemed  most  reasonable.  It  seemed  equally  clear  to 
him  that  parliament  should  exercise  the  taxing  power  for 
the  purpose  of  securing  such  payment.  To  Americans 
also  the  nrst  proposition  Avas  not  unreasonable,  but  to  the 
second  was  determined  and  angry  dissent.  Planting 
themselves  on  their  rights  as  inheritors  of  the  principles 
of  Magna  Charta  and  other  great  bulwarks  of  liberty,  and 


(Ill  their  spccicil  riL^lit:  Lnnntcci  by  tlicir  charters  the  coh^- 
nists  said  "  th.c  I'ritish  jiarHameiit  can  tax  the  pr<)])erty 
of  the  people  whom,  it--  members  re-present,  but  the  par- 
liament ()t  each  coIe-Piv  is  the  onh'  bo^h-  which  can  tax 
the  propert)'  '  <r  Its  pe(^ple."  Vov  oxtr  one  huTidred  and 
tift\'  \'ears  they  had  p:)ssessed  home  rule  in  rec;'ard  to  the 
control  (.f  their  liberties  and  their  [)ropert\-,  arid  tliis, 
hoine-riile  the_\'  iletermined  to  retain  in  all  its  inte:_^rit\\ 
or  die.  Kini^s.  Lords  and  Comm'~in>,  the  les^dslature  of 
(ireat  Ih'itain  C()uld  regulate  th.e  int^nial  aftairs  of  the 
British  Isles.  KIiil;,  Council  and  As-embl\-  onl\-  h.iil 
[><nver  to  rei;ulate  the  internal  affairs  of  each  colon\' 
The)"  had  submitted  to  odious  naxai^ation  laws  passed  b\' 
the  imperial  parliatment  because  the\-  alTected  their  ex- 
ternal relations,  but  the)'  haiJ  never  submitted  and  the)" 
voweil  the)'  never  would  subnait  to  the  acts  of  parliament, 
not  elected  by  themseK'es,  affectinL;  their  internal  rela- 
tions, for  th.at  would  be  sla\'er\'  The)-  were  P^nglishnien 
and  as  such  loved  the  niori.arch)'.  Thic  )'outhful  Kin^^ 
Geor!:;"e  was  for  a  tinie  popular.  He  and  Charlotte  of 
Mecklenburi,'^  had  homel)'  virtues  and  kindly  hearts.  Al- 
though our  ancestors  exj.nmged  from  our  maps  the  odious, 
names  of  Tr)-on  and  P)Ute  the\'  allowed  the  nam.es  of 
Mecklenburg"  and  Charlotte  to  remain.  They  loved  to 
talk  of  "  Farmer  George."  The\'  belie\'ed  that  the  hos- 
tile legislature  was  the  work  onl)'  of  the  Lords  and  the 
Commons,  and  hence  the)'  constantl)-  and  in  vehement 
terms  even  in  the  earl)'  da)'s  (^f  the  war  protested  their 
loyalty  to  tlie  crown  and  ctMifidence  in  the  people  of  Lng- 
land,  as  distinguished  from  the  ptditicians.  The)'  found 
to  their  cost  that  although,  in  his  private  capacit)'  he  was 
a  man  of  benevolence,  as  sovereign,  the  King's  views  of 
the  royal  perogative  made  him  the  most  lasting  enem)'  of 
their  independence,  and  after  blood  began  to  flow  the- 
people  seemed  to  sustain  the  parliament 


No  part  of  the  State  was  more  unanimous  in  resistance 
To  luii^lish  agi^ressiveness  than  the  count}- of  wliich  Sum- 
ner was  sheriff.  "There  were  no  Tories  in  Bute  "  was  the 
proud  boast.  And  few  famiHes  contributed  as  much  to 
the  common  cause  as  the  descendants  of  Wilham  Sum- 
ner. One  of  his  g'randsons,  Luke  Sumner,  repeatedl}' 
represented  his  county,  Chowan,  in  the  State  Congresses 
before  and  the  State  Senate  during  the  war,  and  was  the 
highly  trusted  chairman  of  the  committee  of  safety  from 
Chowan,  member  of  the  eminent  ccMTimittee  which  re- 
ported the  constitution  of  1776,  and  many  other  impor- 
tant committees,  such  as  those  for  the  purchase  and  man- 
ufacture of  arms.  David  Sumner  was  a  member  of  the 
State  Congress  of  August,  1775,  and  of  the  committee  of 
safet)'  of  Halifax  and  Lieutenant  Colonel  of  Militia. 
James  Sumner  was  Lieutenant  in  a  company  of  Light 
Horse.  Robert  Sumner  was  member  from  Hertford  of  the 
Convention  of  1776  which  formed  the  State  Constitution, 
and  of  the  State  Senate  afterwards,  while  Elizabeth  Sum- 
ner's husband,  Elisha  Battle,  was  representative  from 
Edgecombe  in  the  State  Congress  of  1775,  1776  and  the 
State  Senate  under  the  Constitution, 

•  But  the  most  eminent  of  all  the  family  was  Jethro  Sum- 
ner, whose  "violent  principles"  were  noticed  by  Smyth. 
As  sheriff  it  was  his  duty  to  hold  the  elections,  and  he 
could  not  himself  be  elected  to  the  Convention  of  1774 
and  of  March,  1775,  but  after  the  flight  of  Governor  Mar- 
tin to  the  royal-ship  Cruiser,  we  find  him  member  of  the 
Hillsboro  Congress  of  August,  1775.  This  notable  Pro- 
vincial Congress,  still  holding  to  the  constitutional  notion 
that  the  king  could  do  no  wrong  and  that  consequentl\' 
all  acts  in  his  name  were  the  acts  of  parliament  or  of 
ministers,  all  signed  a  test,  drawn  up  by  a  committee  of 
which  Hooper  was  chairman.  No  man  could  be  a  mem- 
ber without  a\'Owin"'  inwritinff  his  determination  to  resist 


24 

to  the  utmost  cx'tremit)"  all  attempts  by  parliament  to  im- 
{)ose  taxes  111)011  the  C()h)nit:s,  or  to  interfere  with  its  local 
concerns,  and  plecli^in^  himself  under  the  sar;Ction  ot 
virtue,  honor  and  the  sacred  law  of  lihert\-  to  support  all 
acts  of  the  Continental  and  Proviiicial  Cong-resses,  be- 
cause the\'  were  freel}'  represented  in  them.  This  test 
was  afterwards  to  be  signed  generall)'  by  ever\'  organ- 
ized bod}'  in  the  Province. 

The  Congress  proceeded  \\ith  firmness  and  wisdom  to 
inaugurate  a  pr<:)visionaI  government  and  [prepare  for  war. 
The  militia  was  organized,  a  special  force  of  five  hun- 
dred minute  men  for  each  of  si.x  Judicial  districts  was  or- 
dered to  be  raised,  besides  two  regiments  of  fx-e  hun- 
dred each  for  the  continental  arm\-.  l^ounties  were  of- 
fered for  the  manufacture  of  articles  most  needed. 

Captain  Sumner  was  chosen  Major  of  the  minute  men 
of  the  Halifax  District.  The\'  were  in  effect  volunteer 
militia,  with  privilege  of  electing  their  company  commis- 
sioned ()fficers.  A  bounty  of  25  shillings  was  allowed 
privates  to  buy  a  uniform,  to  consist  of  a  hunting-shirt, 
leggings  and  black  garters.  An  allowance  of  ten  shil- 
lings for  a  smooth-bore  musket  and  twent}'  shillings  for 
a  rifle  was  made  to  those  furnishiiig  these  weapons. 
When  in  actual  service  the  colonel  was  paid  14  shillings 
a  da}-,  major  9  shillings  and  6  pence  and  so  on;  a  private 
IS  2od  3f.  The  minute  men  were  to  serve  six  months  anci 
were  to  be  drilled  14  da}-s  at  the  beginning  of  their  ser- 
vice and  once  a  fortnight  afterwards.  The\'  were  to  be 
subject  while  in  service  to  the  laws  of  war.  The  officers 
w  ere  to  out  rank  militia  officers  of  the  same  grade.  Some 
of  these  minute  men  did  excellent  work  in  the  [preven- 
tion of  the  rising  of  tories  and  sometimes  in  actual  ght- 
ing. 

Major  Jethro  Sumner  at  once  showed  the  superiority 
natural  to  one  who   had    learned    the    art    of  war    under 


25 

Washington.  Occasion  was  now  had  for  his  ser\'ices. 
Within  a  few  weeks  after  the  adjournment  of  Congress 
the  following  order  was  issued: 

In  Committee  of  Safety, 

November  28th,  1775,  Halifax. 
Ordered  that  Major  Jethro  Sumner  raise  what  minute 
men  and  volunteers   he  can,  and    follow    Colonel    Long 
with  the  utmost  dispatch.     By  order. 
A  copy.  Oroox.  Davis,  Clerk. 

Colonel  Long  was  doubtless  Nicholas  Long,  of  Hali- 
fax, Colonel  of  Sumner's  batalion.  Three  companies  had 
been  apportioned  to  Halifa.x  and  two  to  Bute.  Lord 
Dunmore,  the  execrated  Governor  of  Virginia,  was  rav- 
aging the  coast  of  the  Chesapeake  and  threatening  Nor- 
folk. Most  probably  Colonel  Long  had  hurried  to  the 
defence  of  Norfolk,  and  Sumner  followed  with  the  m\\\- 
ute  men  of  Bute.  On  the  9th  December,  eleven  days  after 
the  order  ofthe  committee  of  safety,  the  minute  men  of  Vir- 
ginia defeated  Fordyce's  grenadiers  in  the  action  at  Great 
Bridge.  Colonel  Howe,  afterwards  General  Howe,  hur- 
ried forward  the  second  regiment  of  Continentals,  and 
took  command  of  them  and  of  the  North  Carolina  min- 
ute men.  He  arrived  two  days  after  the  victory  of  the 
Great  Bridge,  but  he  and  his  troops  so  gallantly  defended 
Norfolk  that  the  baffled  Dunmore  on  the  first  day  of  Jan- 
uary, 1776,  burnt  the  town  and  sailed  away.  Howe  was 
emphatic  in  his  praises  of  the  troops  under  his  command 
and  the  Legislature  of  Virginia  thanked  him  and  his  men 
for  their  efficient  services,  while  the  Provincial  Council 
of  our  State  resolved  "that  he  was  justly  entitled  to  the 
most  honorable  testimony  of  the  approbation  of  the 
Council  for  his  important  services  "  and  thanked  him  and 
all  the  brave  officers  and  soldiers 'under  his  command  for 


26 

their  splendid  conduct,  hax'inc^  acquitted  themselves 
C,'reatl\'  to  their  honor  and  the  g<)od  of  the  countr\"."" 

The  slender  hope  of  acconimodatinL,^  the  differences  of 
the  two  Countries  y;re\v  rapidly  less.  Bh^od  was  shed  on 
Xorth  Carolina  soil.  Tlie  Iw-itish  authorities,  with  the 
co-operation  of  Governor  Martin,  formed  a  scheme  to 
bring'  upon  the  Proxince  thu  horrors  of  a  civil  strife  with 
the  T(H-ies,  of  insurrection  of  the  shu'es  and  Indian  mas- 
sacres on  the  western  frontiers.  Tiie}-  were  all  checked 
by  the  defeat  of  the  Tories  at  Moore's  Creek  Bridge  and 
b_\-  the  cru>hing  of  the  Chcrokees  by  Rutherf  >rd.  The 
Congress  uf  4th  April,  1776,  at  Halifax,  lo(^ked  the  great 
issue  boldh"  in  the  face,  discarded  their  hope  of  friend- 
ship from  the  English  King  or  English  people,  and,  the 
first  of  all  the  colonies,  authorized  its  delegates  in  the 
Continental  Congress  to  \"ote  for  Independence.  The 
militia  was  ordered  to  consist  n{  all  bet\\'een  16  and  60 
\ears  ut  age.  A  Brigadiier-Cjcneral  for  each  district  was 
electCLl.  Eour  additional  regiments  were  \(ited  for  the 
American  Continental  arm)-,  and  ^"400,000  or  :f;  1,000, 000 
in  bills  of  credit  were  ordered  to  be  issued  for  t'ne  pur- 
pose of  paying  all  expenses.  The  name  of  Pr()vincial 
Council  for  the  supreme  executive  power  was  found  to  be 
inap[)ri)priate,  as  the  woi'd  "  Provincial  "  implied  a  recog- 
nition of  dependence  on  Great  Britain.  The  name  i.'oun- 
cil  of  Safet}-  was  substituted.  Large  executive  and  ju- 
dicial powers  were  gi\'en,  care  being  taken,  howe\'er, 
that  the}"  should  not  be  despotic.  Three  vessels  of  war 
were  ordered  to  be  built  and  officers  appointed  for  them. 

So  highl\-  appreciated  was  the  coniluct  of  Major  Sum- 
ner that  at  the  next  meeting  in  April  of  the  Provincial 
Congress  he  vvas  promoted  to  the  Cok^^nelcy  of  the  ^rd 
Regiment  of  the  Continental  troops.  His  field  officers 
were  William  Alston,  Lieutenant-Colonel;  Samuel  Lock- 
hart,  Major.      His  Captains  were    William   Brinkley,  Pin- 


2/ 

Iccthman  P2aton,  John  Gra)-,  William  Barrett,  Jacob  Tur- 
ner, George  Granbur}',  James  Cook,  James  Emmett 
The  other  Colonels  were  Thomas  Park  of  the  4th,  Ed- 
ward Buncombe  of  the  5th,  anci  Alexander  LillinQ-ton  of 
the  6th.  Owing  to  the  promotion  of  Generals  Moore 
and  Howe  to  be  Brigadier-Generals,  F^rancis  Nash  soon 
to  be  promoted,  and  Alexander  Martin  were  made  Colo- 
nels of  the  1st  and  2nd  Regiments.  The  enlisting  of 
men  was  voluntar\',  and  the  following  instructions  to  re- 
cruiting officers  are  interesting.  They  were  to  accept 
"able-bodied  men  only,  capable  of  marching  well  and  of 
undisputed  iO\-alt}'."  Regard  must  be  had  as  much  as 
possible  to  "moral  character,  particularly  sobriet\-."  The 
Colonel  was  authorized  to  reject  those  not  fit  for  service. 
No  soldier  under  5  feet  4  inches  high  shall  be  enlisted. 
They  must  be  healthy,  strong-made,  and  well-limrbed. 
The  character  of  disqualifying  bodily  infirmities  sounds- 
strange  in  our  day.  They  must  be  "  not  deaf  or  subject 
to  fits,  or  ulcers  on  their  legs,  or  ruptures."  The  last 
mentioned  may  have  been  frequent  on  account  of  the 
practice  of  log-rolling  matches,  and  other  violent  exer- 
cises, but  what  causi-d  the  prevalence  of  ulcers  and  fits  is 
a  mystery.  The  recruit  took  an  oath  to  be  "  faithful  and 
true  to  the  United  Colonies"  and  to  "lay  down  his  arms 
peaceably  when  required  so  to  do  by  the  Continental 
Congress;  "  that  he  would  serve  the  United  Colonies  to- 
the  utmost  of  his  power  in  defence  of  the  just  rights  of 
America  against  all  enemies  whatsoever,"  so  that  the  sol- 
diers were  no  longer  in  any  manner  subject  to  the  orders 
of  North  Carolina.  This  probably  explains  the  jealousy 
of  certain  North  Carolina  officials  toward  them. 

The  amount  of  information  we  have  of  the  early  move- 
ments from  day  to  day  of  these  Continental  troops  is  re- 
markably meagre.  The  statement  of  Hugh  McDonald,  an 
unlettered  private  in  the6th  regiment,  written  athis  dicta- 


28 

lion  \'ears  after  the  war,  printed  in  the  Xorth  Caiolina 
University  Magazine,  is  almost  our  sole  authorit\-  for 
much  of  their  history. 

McDonald,  recently  from  Scotland,  who  had  been  with 
his  father  a  Tor\-,  at  Moore's  Creek  Bridge,  was  taken  as  a 
guide  by  a  party  of  Whigs,  engaged  in  arresting  the  par- 
ticipants of  that  battle.  He  was  offered  the  liberty  of 
returning  to  his  father,  but  being  fearful  of  his  ven- 
geance, enlisted  in  the  6th  regiment  under  Lillington, 
when  "about  the  age  of  fourteen  years."  About  the 
middle  of  Jul}',  1776,  the  recruits  were  carried  to  Wil- 
mington, where  General  Francis  Nash  was  in  charge  of 
the  brigade  of  6  regiments.  Lillington  was  too  old  to  go 
on  parade,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Lambe  was  substitu- 
ted. Recruiting  had  been  very  successful  and  the  regi- 
ments were  full.  About  the  middle  of  November  the 
troops  were  marched  north  to  join  Washington,  but  were 
stopped  for  three  weeks  in  Halifax  on  the  land  of  Col. 
Nicholas  Long,  now  Commissary-General  of  this  State. 
They  were  marched  back  to  participate  in  a  campaign 
against  Florida.  They  paused  on  their  journe\'  near  the 
boundary  line  of  South  Carolina,  about  three  weeks, 
"makingexcellent  bedsof  the  long  moss  of  the  trees."  Here 
a  squad  of  men  claimed  that  they  were  enlisted  for  onh' 
six  months,  and  on  being  refused  their  discharges  de- 
serted. "  Three  of  them  were  colored  people,"  so  it  ap- 
pears that  free  colored  men  helped  to  gain  American  Li- 
dependence.  From  this  camp  they  marched  to  Charleston, 
and  lay  in  camp  opposite  to  Fort  Sullivan  until  the  mid- 
dle of  March,  living  on  fresh  pork  and  rice  as  their  con- 
stant diet,  the  expedition   to  Florida  being  abandoned. 

The  account  of  McDonald  is  in  the  main  correct, 
without  doubt,  but  is  not  true  as  to  at  least  three  of  the 
Continental  regiments.  It  has  always  been  thought 
that  only  the  first  and    second    regiments   under    Colo- 


•29 

aiels  Moore  and  Martin,  brigaded  under  Brigadier-General 
Howe,  participated  in  the  brilliant  defence  of  Charleston 
-on  the  28th  of  June,  1776,  Charles  Lee  being  General  in 
Chief,  and  that  they  only  of  the  North  Carolina  soldiers 
were  entitled  to  the  splendid  praise  of  General  Lee,  all 
"the  more  valuable  because  he  had  been  an  officer  in  the 
English  ar^Tiy,  "their  conduct  is  such  as  does  them  the 
greatest  honor-;  no  men  ever  did  and  it  is  impossible  ever 
can  behave  better,"  and  again  in  his  report  to  the  Vir- 
ginia Convention,  "I  know  not  which  corps  I  have  the 
greatest  reason  to  be  pleased  with — Mecklenburg's,  Vir- 
ginia's or  the  North  Carolina  troops;  they  are  both 
equally  alert,  zealous  and  spirited."  But  a  letter  from 
Col.  Jethro  Sumner  to  Lieutenant-Colonel  William 
Alston,  printed  in  the  loth  volume  of  our  Colonial  Re- 
cords p  790,  shows,  I  think,  that  Sumner  and  his  regi- 
ment were  at  the  defence  of  Charleston. 

A  few  days  after  this  victory  at  Charleston  in  July, 
1776,  General  Lee  undertook  an  ill-advised  expedition  to 
attack  St.  Augustine  in  Florida,  taking  with  him,  says 
Moultrie  who  was  second  in  command,  the  Virginia  and 
North  Carolina  troops.  At  Savannah,  after  losing  many 
from  sickness,  he  halted  until  he  was  ordered  North  by 
Congress.  Moultrie  refused  to  continue  the  movement 
unless  properly  furnished  with  material  and  supplies, 
%vhich  Lee  had  totally  neglected  and  which  were  never 
furnished.  The  letter  from  Sumner  to  Alston  dated  Sep- 
tember the  3rd,  shows  that  his  regiment  was  with  this 
ill-starred  expedition  and  of  course  was  with  Lee  at 
Charleston. 

The  letter  places  Sumner  in  the  most  favorable  light. 
He  states  that  General  Lee  had  given  him  leave  to  re- 
turn to  North  Carolina  for  the  purpose  of  providing 
necessaries  for  the  troops  in  view  of  the  coming  winter. 
He  urges  Lieutenant-Colonel   Alston    to   be  particularly 


c.'irefui  of  the  tlisci[)Iinc  and  to  keep  a  '^n)  1  Lindcrstainl- 
iiig  amoiii:;'  tlie  officers  and  soldiers.  He  wishes  them 
informed  oi'  the  cause  of  liis  leax'iiv^r^  that  it  was  to  their 
benefit.  He  says,  "  You  are  at  all  tii"nes  t.)  keep  up  a 
strict  discipline,  btit  to  reserve  a  mode  of  clemenc)"  as 
amoni^"  _\-oun!^'-  trtx'ps;  now  and  then  to  throw  something 
of  a  promising  hope  among  them  of  a  quick  return  to 
North  Carolina,  which  I  doubt  n<)t  but  sometin'iC  hence 
will  be  the  case.  It  will  engage  the  mind  and  fjr  a  time 
dispense  with  inconveniences.  Be  careful  in  seeing  nO' 
fraud  is  done  them  b\'  the  commissaries,  and  their  pay 
regular!)-  to  a  month  dcliveretl   b\'  their  captains." 

Wc  see  here  a  kind,  fatherl}-  and  careful  heart.  Re- 
ceiving his  commission  in  April  his  troops  are  raised  and 
when  first  under  fire  at  Charleston  two  months  after- 
ward behavetl  with  conspicuous  gallan.try.  We  learn 
from  man)'  sources  that  the)-  were  badl)'  provided  with- 
arms  and  clothing.  The)-  are  marched  by  the  restless,  am- 
bitious, injudicious  Lee  in  the  sickl)'  season,  through  the 
swamps  of  South  Caroliiia  to  Savannah.  Findin.giti  mpos- 
sible  to  go  farther  for  want  of  supplies,  the)'  are  placed 
in  pestilential  camp  witliout  aii\-  near  prospect  of  active 
serx'ice.  Their  (Colonel,  believing  that  the)'  will  remain 
in  winter  cpiartLrs  here,  g'ets  leave  to  go  to  their  distant 
homes  in  (^rder  to  obiain  necessaries  for  their  comfort. 
His  heart  )X'arns  for  them  in  his  absence,  and  he  urges 
the  Lieutenant-Colonel  wIki  is  to  command  them  to  be 
strict  in  discipline,  but  at  the  same  time  to  remember- 
that  they  are  young  tr<-)ops,  and  need  eiicou.ragement  and 
comfort.  He  fears  that  the)-  will  become  homesick,  and 
that  the)- will  be  cheated  b)"  the  commissaries.  He  ex- 
horts the  Lieutenant-Colonels  to  keep  up  their  spirits  by 
arousing  hopes  of  early  return  to  their  beloved  State,  and 
to  see  that  they  get  their  rights.  Soldiers  with  such  a 
sympathetic  and  careful  commander   were   sure  to-  recip- 


31 

Tocate  his  watchruliic^s  fir  tlicm   b_\-  attention  to  dut)'  in 
camp  and  on   the  battlc-fieUl. 

At  the  same  time  that  Colonel  Sumner  went  to 
North  Carolina,  Lee  was  ordered  North  to  join  Wash- 
ini^ton.  xA.t  the  uri^ent  request  of  the  authorities  of 
Georgia  and  South  Carolina,  the  North  Carolina  troops 
remained  for  the  defence  of  those  States  during  the  fall 
and  winter  following  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
During  this  time  Washington's  army  by  the  expiration  of 
enlistments  and  the  casualties  of  the  retreat  across  New 
Jersey,  frequent  skirmishes,  including  the  brilliant  victo- 
ries of  Princeton  and  Trenton,  had  been  reduced  to 
7,000  men.  It  became  probable  that  the  next  struggle 
would  be  for  the  possession  of  Philadelphia.  The  North 
Carolina  troops  were  on  the  15th  of  March,  1777,  or- 
dered to  join  hi.-<army.  The  route  was  by  Wilmington, 
Halifax  and  Richmond.  The  story  of  their  brilliant  vic- 
tory over  the  British  fleet  had  preceded  them.  Their 
progress  through  Virginia  was  an  ovation.  The}'  could, 
says  the  chronicle,  hardly  march  two  miles  without  being 
stopped  by  ladies  and  gentlemen  who  flocked  to  see  them. 
At  Georgetown  those  who  had  not  suffered  from  small- 
pox were  inoculated  with  such  success  that  not  a  man  was 
lost.  They  reached  Washington's^camp  at  Middle-brook 
about  the  last  of  June.  They  were  placed  under  the 
comm.and  of  General  Alexander,  Lord  Sterling. 

Thev  had  only  a  short  rest.  In  a  few  days,  after  fin- 
ishing their  long  march,  General  Howe,  the  British  com- 
mander, embarked  18,000  men  on  transports,  and  landing 
at  Elkton  marched  towards  Philadelphia.  Although 
Washington  had  onl)'  i  i,ooomen,  part  of  them  raw  militia, 
he  concluded  that  it  would  ciemoralize  the  country  to  give 
up  Philadelphia  without  risking  a  battle.  He  met  the  enemy 
on  the  nth  of  September  at  Brandywine.  Sterling's  di- 
vision, includingNash's  brigade,  was  under  the  command 


3^ 

of  Sullivan.  They  showed  praiseworthy  coura,L,^e.  The  flight 
of  Sullivan's  own  division  exposed  the  flank  of  Sterling 
and  of  Stephen.  As  Bancroft  says  "  These  two  divisions, 
only  half  as  numerous  as  their  assailants,  in  spite  of  the 
unofficer-like  behaviour  of  Stephen,  fought  in'  good  ear- 
nest, using  their  artillei'}"  from  a  distance,  thefr  muskets 
only  while  within  forty  paces."  They  were  forced  to 
yield  to  superior  numbers.  Sullivan  redeemed  his  want 
of  generalship  by  personal  bravery,  and  Lafayette  fought 
by  their  side  as  a  volunteer  and  was  shot  through  the 
lef 

Within  five  days  Washington  was^  ready  for  another 
fight,  but  the  conflict  was  prevented  by  a  furious  rain- 
storm, which  damaged  the  powder  of  both  armies.  On 
the  4th  of  October  he  formed  an  c.vcellent  plan  for  at- 
tacking the  enemy  at  Germantown.  The  brigades  of 
Maxwell  and  Nash  under  Sterling,  formed  the  reserve  in 
the  most  diffiicult  attack — that  on  the  British  left.  This 
attack  was  successful,  and  if  it  had  been  properly  sup- 
ported by  other  parts  of  the  army  would  have  won  the 
victory.  North  Carolina  lost  some  of  her  ablest  men — 
General  Nash.  Cal  Henry  Irvin.  Jacob  Turner,  a  captain 
in  Sumner's  regiment,  and  soon  afterwards  the  noble- 
hearted  Colonel  Kdward  Buncombe  who  was  wounded 
and  fell  into  the  hands^  of  the  enemy,  died  at  Philadel- 
phia. Although  the  attack  at  GenrKintown  failed,  the 
i^pirit  shown,  the  admirable  plan,  the  speedy  recover}- 
from  the  disaster  at  l^rand)-wi,ne,  proved  to  the  world 
tliat  such,  troops,  with  a  leader  so  constant  and  wise  and 
energetic,  could  not  be  conquered.  It  convinced  the 
court  of  France  that  an  alliance  with  the  struggling  col- 
onies would  be  safe  and  tend  to  cripple  her  hereditary 
enemy. 

.  Two  miore  regiments   from'  North   CaroHna  joined   the 
army  during  the  winter  of  i7'J7-7?>;  tlie  8th  under  James 


33 

Armstrong,  Colonel,  and  the  9th  under  John  P.  Williams, 
Colonel,  and  at  least  Armstroni^  arri\'ed  in  time  to  partic- 
ipate in  the  battle  of  Germantown. 

The  North  Carolina  brigade  went  through  \vith  fortitude 
the  heart-rending  sufferings  at  Valle}'  Forge  in  the  win- 
ter of  i777-'78.  When  the  news  of  the  Alliance  of  the 
United  States  and  France  and  the  sailing  of  the  French 
fleet  to  America  induced  the  British  commander  to  re- 
treat to  New  York,  giving  up  Philadelphia,  they  as  usual 
did  faithful  service  at  Monmouth  on  the  20th  of  June — a 
victory  which  would  have  been  most  signal  for  the  Amer- 
icans but  for  the  misconduct  of  the  traitor  Gen.  Charles 
Lee.  They  were  posted  on  the  left  of  the  army  and  pre- 
vented the  turning  of  that  flank  by  Cornwallis. 

In  May,  1778,  on  account  of  the  diminished  numbers, 
the  North  Carolina  batallions,  as  they  were  called  after 
joining  Washington's  army,  were  consolidated.  The  6th 
was  put  into  the  1st  under  Col.  Thomas  Clark;  the  4th 
into  the  2nd  under  Col.  John  Patton,  and  the  5th  into  the 
3rd  under  Col.  Jethro  Sumner. 

After  the  battle  of  Monmouth  there  was  little  fighting 
by  Washington's  army  until  the  Yorktown  campaign.  It 
lay  near  Morristown,  in  New  Jersey,  and  to  the  North  of 
that  point,  watching  the  army  of  Clinton  in  New  York. 
Sumner  was  promoted  for  his  faithful  services  to  be  Briga- 
dier-General on  January  9th,  1779.  The  North  Carolina 
regulars,  dwindled  to  only  seven  hundred  men,  were 
ordered  to  the  South  for  defence  of  Georgia  and  South 
Carolina.  General  Howe  had  been  disastrously  defeated 
near  Savannah,,  and  Congress  had  superseded  him  with 
General  Lincoln.  General  Sumner  and  his  brigade  had 
the  post  of  honor  in  the  attack  on  the  intrenchments  of 
the  enemy  at  Ston©  Ferry  on  June  20th,  1779.  The 
troops  were  ordered  to  trust  to  the  bayonet  only,  but 
meeting  with  a  heavy  fire,  they  could  not   be    restrained 


34 

from  retm'ninL;'  it.  Tlic\'  behaved  uitli  cjreat  spirit,  but 
as  Moultrie,  wlio  had  been  chari^ed  with  this  dut\',  was 
unable  for  the  want  of  boats  to  prevent  the  arrival  of  re- 
inforcements to  the  British,  Lincoln  withdrew  his  men 
with  small  loss  and  in  good  order.  S()on  after  the  battle 
active  o[>erations  ceased,  on  account  of  the  heated  air  la- 
den with  malaria.  Sumner's  strong  constitution,  which 
had  resisted  the  fierce  cold  of  a  Penns\dvania  winter, 
could  not  sa\'e  him  from  the  prevailing  fever.  He  was 
forced  to  ask  leave  of  absence,  expecting  a  speed}'  re- 
cr)very  in  the  highlanels  of  Warren.  Mis  presence  in 
North  Carolina  was  needed  to  aid  in  forwarding  recruits 
to  his  depleted  brigade.  His  request  was  granted  earl)' 
in  Jul)',  and  he  was  therefore  not  engaged  in  the  disas- 
trous assault  on  Savanaah  b)'  the  P^rcnch  and  American 
forces  on  October  9th,  1779. 

In  Xiixember,  1779,  Gen.  Sumner  was  again  with 
Lincoln  and  joined  in  the  adivice  to  cross  the  Savannah 
into  Georgia,  a  mo\'ement  rendered  of  no  a\'ail  by  the 
defeat  of  General  Ashe.  On  account  of  his  great  per- 
sonal intluence  in  North  Carolina  he  was  detached  to  raise 
four  new  regiments  of  regulars,  and  so  escaped  being 
captured  at  Charleston. 

A  more  difficult  and  thankless  task  could  not  be  con- 
ceived. He  met  with  no  s)'mpathy  from  the  civil  author- 
ities or  fn^m  the  people.  The  latter  preferred  the  short 
terms  and  less  exacting  discipline  of  the  militia  service; 
the  former  sympathized  with  them  and  gave  little  aid  tc) 
the  enlistments  in  the  regular  service  until  the  disaster 
of  Camden  and  the  invasion  of  Cornwallis  made  them 
tremble  for  the  fate  of  the  State. 

Baffled  in  the  attempt  to  conquer  the  Middle  States  the 
British  ministry  determined  to  transfer  the  theatre  of  war 
to  the  South.  The)'  believed  that  the  fears  of  slave  in- 
surrections and  the  presence  of  a  large   Tor)'   element  in 


35 

the  South  would  fnsure  a  speedy  reduction  of  Georg"ia  and 
South  Carolina,  North  CaroHna  and  Virginia  to  the  au- 
thorit}'  of  the  crown.  The  character  of  the  war  was  to 
be  changed.  Those  who  refused  to  return  to  their  alle- 
giance and  to  render  active  aid  to  the  British  cause  were 
to  be  treated  as  traitors.  Terror  of  imprisonment  and 
death,  loss  of  propert)',  and  insult,  even  outrage,  to 
women  and  children  was  to  be  employed  as  a  potent  ar- 
gument. The  worst  elements  of  societ}',the  robbers  and 
murderers,  were  to  be  furnished  with  authority  to 
perform  their  nefarious  calling,  legitimated  by  the  King's 
commission.  All  the  horrors  which  have  attended  civil 
war  in  the  darkest  ages  and  among  the  most  cruel  people 
were  now  to  be  experienced  by  the  Southern  States,  un- 
der the  new  policy  of  Clinton  and  Cornwallis. 

The  policy  seemed  for  awhile  successful.  In  1779  oc- 
curred the  disastrous  failure  to  capture  Savannah.  In 
May,  1780,  Charleston  capitulated,  and  by  the  blundering 
policy  of  General  Lincoln,  2,000  of  our  best  regular  sol- 
diers, the  heroes  of  many  hard-fought  battles,  including 
the  North  Carolina  brigade  under  Gen.  Hogan,  were  lost 
forever.  Georgia  and  South  Carolina  were  overrun,  onl}-  a 
few  small  partizan  bodies  under  Marion  and  Sumter  and 
others,  keeping  alive  the  slumbering  fires  of  existence. 

To  make  matters  worse.  Congress  which  had  already 
inflicted  one  unwise  General  on  the  South,  now  sent 
another  still  worse.  The  defeat  of  Gates  at  Camden  left 
North  Carolina  open  to  invasion,  and  inspired  with  cour- 
age all  the  dispairing  and  disaffected  to  increase  the  ranks 
of  the  Tories.  But  the  pluck  and  endurance  of  the  pa- 
triots paralyzed  for  a  short  while,  were  soon  as  strong  as 
ever. 

General  Sumner  was  one  of  the  most  active  and  effi- 
cient officers  in  the  movement  which  led  to  the  salvation 
of  the  Corolinas.     I  sketch  briefly  his  services,  premising 


36 


that  Judi,^e  Schcnck  has,  witli  his  accustomed  ability. 
g-i\'cn  tlic  same  in  greater  detail  in  his  valuable  book, 
"North  Carolina  in  i/So-'Si." 

As  said  before  the  Xorth  Carol  ina  regulars,  except  those 
who  were  absent  on  leave,  were  captured  under  Lincoln  at 
Charleston.  Gen.  Greene  on  account  of  unreliabilit}'  of 
short  term  troops  earnestl}'  desired  the  organization  of 
another  brigade  of  regulars.  He  was  abl\-  seconded  b>' 
the  General  Assembl\',  whose  determinations  like  that  of 
Senators  of  old  Rome,  rose  higher  as  the  invader  drew 
nigher.  As  the  Roman  Senators  did  in  times  of  extreme 
danger,  the}'  appointed  a  Dictator — a  Council-E.xtraor- 
dinarx' — composed  of  the  Go\'ernor  (Xash),  ex-Go\'ernor 
Caswell  and  William  Brignol  of  Xew  Berne,  and  for  fear 
the  Assembly  should  be  prevented  from  meeting,  gave  it 
all  the  powers  \"ested  in  the  Hoard  of  \\'ar  and  Council  of 
State,  the  powers  of  the  purse  and  of  the  sword,  the 
])Ower  "to  do  and  execute  exery  act  and  tloing  which  may 
conduce  t()  the  securitx',  defence  and  preservation  of  this 
State." 

A  new  militia  law  was  passed  much  more  stringent  and 
eflicient  than  bef:)re,  bjt  cv^n  in  tlieir  g>'--'i-t  extremity 
their  dread  of  a  centralized  gox'ernment  was  emphasized 
b}'  the  prox'ision  that  officers  of  the  Continental  service 
shouki  not  be  placed  over  the  militia  Conscription,  the 
last  resort  of  a  self-governing  people,  was  adopted.  A 
law  to  raise  2,720  men  for  filling  up  the  Continental  ba- 
tallions  was  enacted  and  great  bounties  offered.  The  mi- 
litia was  divided  into  classes  of  fifteen,  and  the  option 
to  volunteer  was  given.  If  there  was  no  volunteer,  one 
from  each  class  was  to  be  drafted.  Each  volunteer  or 
draft  was  to  receive  a  bounty  of  /'3,ooo  in  bills  or  non- 
taxable certificates  bearing  six  per  cent,  interest  and  re- 
ceivable for  taxes.  In  addition  to  this  amount  three 
barrels  of  corn  per  annum  for  the  wife  and  each  child  un- 


37 

dcr  ten  years  of  age  were  to  be  given  ever}'  }'ear  while 
the  husband  or  father  continued  in  service.  A  special  tax 
of  three  per  cent,  of  all  the  property  of  each  class  was 
levied  to  pay  these  bounties.  To  volunteers  in  the  Con- 
tinental line  duringthe  continuance  of  the  war  were  offer- 
ed ^2,000  in  cash,  and  at  the  close  of  service  a  prime 
slave  and  640  acres  of  land.  And  finally  all  run-aways 
and  deserters,  all  those  who  harbored  deserters,  all  who 
failed  to  appear  at  the  time  of  drafting,  were  to  be  ipso 
facto  privates  in  the  Continental  army  for  twelve  months. 

Other  strong  measures  were  authorized,  such  as  power 
of  impressment  of  supplies  for  the  army,  the  confiscation  of 
property  of  Tories,  and  a  specific  tax  of  one  peck  of  corn  or 
the  equivalent  in  other  provisions,  for  each  £iOO  of  prop- 
erty. This  was  afterwards  increased  to  one  bushel.  These 
were  stern  measures,  and  could  only  have  been  enacteci  by 
those  who  valued  freedom  over  property  and  life. 

Prior  to  the  battle  of  Guilford,  March  15th,  1781,  there 
seems  to  have  been  small  success  in  recruiting.  The 
rapid  movements  and  apparently  the  overwhelming  su- 
periority of  Cornwallis,  the  fjars  engendered  by  his  pos- 
session of  Hillsboro  and  the  great  impetus  given  to  the 
Tor)'  movement,  seemed  to  paral\'ze  the  people.  Greene 
was  forced  to  replenish  his  small  army  with  militia. 
Seeing  this  state  of  things,  Sumner,  with  the  full  ap- 
proval and  at  the  request  of  Greene,  offered  his  services 
as  commander  of  a  brigade  of  mili'ia.  Greene  had  faith 
in  the  saying  of  the  ancients  that  an  army  of  hares  with 
a  lion  at  the  head  is  superior  to  an  army  of  lions  with  a 
hare  to  command  them.  The  able  patriot,  Willie  Jones, 
General  of  the  Halifax  brigade,  was  willing  to  surrender 
his  place  in  favor  of  the  tried  veteran.  But  General  Cas- 
well refused  the  tender  of  service,  and  Jones  being  inca- 
pacitated by  sickness.  Gen.  Thos.  Eaton,  the  next  in 
command,  insisted  on  leading  the  brigade  to    their    dis- 


38 

_L^racefuI  desertion  at  Guilfortl  Coui't  Hnuse.  after  hax-fnc^, 
as  Judge  Schenck  shows,  performed  their  dut}'  at  the  be- 
L^inninij  of  tlie  fiyht.  Once  before  had  Sumner  been 
treated  with  scant  courtes}-.  When,  after  his  tliL;ht  from 
Camden,  Gates  left  Caswell  at  Charlotte  to  Leather  to- 
c^ether  the  fra^^ments  of  militia,  he  thouL;'ht  best  to 
j()in  Gates  in  Hillsboro  and  left  Sumner  in  command. 
H}-  some  influence  the  latter  was  superseded  b\' 
Smallwood,  not  a  citizen,  and  certainh'  n')t  his  superior 
in  abilit}'.  He  was  in  command,  too,  over  a  brigade  of 
militia  at  R-ari»seu-r's  Mills,  on  Deep  Ri\"er,  Caswell  being 
present,  on  September  5th,  1780.  \\'h\-  Caswell  refused 
the  services  of  so  eminent  and  useful  a  soldier  it  is  impos- 
sible now  to  ascertain.  A  charitable  conjecture  is  that 
he  thought  the  x'iews  of  discipline  held  b\-  a  Continental 
officer  trained  under  the  exacting  discipline  of  Frederick 
the  Great,  Baron  Steuben,  too  severe  for  militia.  His  ex- 
perience at  Camden  should  ha\"e  taught  him  sounder 
military  \iews.  The  admirers  of  Caswell  may  excuse 
him  on  the  ground  that  the  law  prohibited  the  employ- 
ment of  Continental  officers  o\'er  the  militia,  but  this  de- 
fence is  metb\-  the  factthat  theCr)uncil  Extraordinary  had 
full  power  to  assign  Sumner  to  this  dut\-  if  in  its  opinion 
the  safet}'  of  the  State  required  it.  An_\- two  of  the  coun- 
cil could  act,  and  Go\'ernor  Xash,  it  is  known,  was,  in  his 
favor.  On  Caswell  seems  to  be  the  sole  responsibilit)"  of 
ha\'ing  in  charge  of  our  militia,  not  the  proved  veteran 
Sumner,  nor  John  Ba[)tista  Ashe,  nor  Murfree.  two  other 
Continental  officers  chafing  under  enforced  idleness,  b  u 
Butler  and  Eaton,  good  men,  but  destitute  of  militaryt 
experience,  in  whom  the  soldiers  had  little  confidence 
and  of  whom  the\-  were  not  afraid.  Virginia  made  no 
such  mistake.  The  stern  \'eteran.  Stevens,  placed  behind 
his  militia  some  of  his  grim, fear  less  old  soldiers,  ^\■ith  instruc- 
tions  to    shoot  all   retreating   without   orders,  and  hence 


39 

rhe  extraordinaril}-  soldier-like  behax'iour  of  those  raw 
troops.  Morgan  pursued  similar  tactics  when  he  formed 
his  militia  at  Cowpens,  with  a  deep  river  behind  them. 
They  were  afraid  not  to  fight.  As  an  old  friend  said  to 
me  once,  "Fright  is  the  bravest  of  all  passions." 

Gov.  Alexander  Martin  differed  widely  from  Caswell. 
On  the  1st  day  of  January,  1772,  he  made  an  urgent  re- 
quest to  General  Sumner  for  Continental  officers.  He 
writes,  "With  \'0ur  leave.  Major  Hogg  accepts  a  com- 
mand of  Light  Infantry  of  500  men  with  Major  McCree; 
Captain  Tatum  in  command  of  a  troop  of  horse  attached 
to  Major  Hogg.  Captain  Dixon  also  will  command  such 
of  the  State  troops  as  are  now  at  Warren  Court  House 
until  the  corps  can  be  organized  under  Lieutenant  Mar- 
shall. *  *  ^  J  flatter  myself  with  the  great  ad- 
vantage this  State  will  derive  from  having  the  honor  of 
Continental  officers  in  its  service  at  this  important  period 
which  may  finally  blast  the  hopes  of  a  despairing  enem}' 
and  cause  them  to  fall  an  easy  prey  to  our  arms." 

Denied  the  opportunity  of  leading  the  militia  in  the  pend- 
ingcampaign, imitating  his  greatcommander,  Washington, 
who  performed  his  public  duty  with  serene  indifference  to 
misunderstanding  and  jealousy,  in  defiance  of  all  difficul- 
ties and  discouragements,  Sumner  energetically  contin- 
ued his  efforts  to  rais€  his  Continental  brigade.  His 
correspondence  with  Colonel  Nicholas  Long,  Major  John 
Armstrong,  Major  Pinketham  Eaton,  Col.  Hal  Dixon, 
and  others,  shows  clearly  the  number  and  weight  of  his 
difficulties,  and  the  extraordinar}-  efforts  to  overcome 
them. 

By  letter  and  by  personal  visits  he  endeavored  to  spur 
up  the  recruiting  officers  to  the  enlistment  of  volunteers, 
the  militia  colonels  to  the  enforcement  of  the  drafts,  the 
commissaries  and  quarter-masters  to  the  collecting  of 
Supplies.     He  urged  La  Fajxtte  and  Steuben   to   forward 


40 

arms  from  \'iri^M'nia.  In  Mime  directions  liis  success,  was- 
flattering;  in  otlicrs  t!ic  work  was  impeded  b\'  the  fear  of 
Tories,  b}'  the  disloyalt}-  or  inertness  of  the  drafting  offi- 
cers, b\-  the  povert)'  of  sections,  which  had  been  harrowed 
[)}•  tile  enem)'  or  b}-  domestic  marauder^.  Rank  T(~)ries 
often  enlisted,  dre^\'  their  bounties  and  the  same  night  de- 
serted. He  wrote  strong  and  mi>\'ing  appeals  to  encour- 
age volunteering  (^r  to  reconcile  the  people  to  drafting — 
with  no  grace  of  stxde,  but  with  the  eloquence  of  earnest- 
ness. 

His  efforts  were  onh' in  part  successful.  Col.  John 
Armstrong,  in  a  letter  to  Sumner,  gives  graphic  account 
of  the  trials.  He  sa\'s:  "The  General  'Greene)  seems 
ver\'  uneas\-  about  the  dela}'  of  the  draft  of  the  Salisbur\' 
district  and  of  the  deserti()ns  that  frequently'  happen  by 
reason  of  the  forced  number  of  Tories  into  the  service,, 
and  as  soon  as  the\'  receix'e  the  bounty  the\-  desert.  I 
have  received  nigh  300  men,  and  will  not  ha\'e  above  200 
in  the  field.  I  did  e\"erything  in  my  power  to  bring  out 
the  drafts  of  this  district,  but  all  to  no  purpose.  Tliere  is 
one-half  at  home  }-et,  anil  remain  without  molestation. 
As  for  clothing,  tliere  -was  little  or  none  sent  fit  for  a 
negro  to  wear,  e.xcept  from  Rowa.n.  I  am  sorr\'  that  I 
ever  had  anything  to  do  with  such  slothful  officers  and 
neglected  soldiers.  There  is  a  number  of  them  now  al- 
mcTst  naked,  and  when  cold  weather  sets  in  the\'  must 
be  discharged,  for  no  (officer  would  pretend  to  put  them 
on  duty.  The  neglect  we  have  labored  under  heretofore, 
together  with  the  present,  make  the  service  ver}'  disa- 
greeable to  every  officer  in  camp.  We  are  without 
mone\',  clothing,  or  an}-  kind  of  nourishment  for  our  sick,- 
not  one  gill  of  rum,  sugar  or  coffee,  no  tents  or  camp  ket- 
tles or  canteens,  no  doctor,  no  medicine;  under  these  cir- 
cumstances we  must  become  very  inefficient."  *  * 
"1  am  afraid  that  in.  a  short  time  you  will  have    but  few 


41 

officers  in  the  field,  by  reason  of  the  shameful  neglect  of 
the  State.  We  seem  rather  a  burden  than  a  benefit  to 
them;  we  are  tossed  to  and  fro  like  a  ship  in  a  storm." 

At  one  time  Sumner  had  orders  to  join  Baron  Steuben 
in  Virginia.  Armstrong  says,  "  I  wish  it  had  been  my 
lot  to  have  gone  with  you  to  Virginia  where  we  would 
have  been  under  your  immediate  care.  *  *  i 
am  fully  satisfied  that  you  are  not  acquainted  with  our 
circumstances  here,  or  otherwise  it  would  have  been  re- 
moved." 

The  only  thing  praised  by  Armstrong  is  the  pleasant- 
ness of  the  situation  of  the  camp,  "plenty  of  good  water." 
"  But,"  he  adds,  with  a  groan,  "  It  hath  one  failing — it 
will  not  make  grog."  At  that  day,  spirituous  liquors, 
chiefly  rum,  were  regarded  as  necessaries  more  than  either 
sugar  or  coffee,  classed  with  medicine.  General  Wm.  R. 
Davie,  the  Commissary-General  of  the  State,  on  Novem- 
ber 1st,  in  a  letter  to  General  Sumner,  writes:  "I  have 
ordered  some  rum  to  be  put  in  motion  for  the  Southern 
army  for  the  use  of  your  brigade."  "You  are  sensible," 
he  naively  adds,  "that  unless  it  is  sent  in  charge  of  one 
of  your  own  officers,  it  may  lose  much  on  its  journey, 
and  may  not  be  properly  applied  on  its  arrival.  General 
Davie's  views  accord  with  those  of  the  old  Scotch  preach- 
er, "My  brethren!  It  is  said  that  the  test  of  honesty  is 
being.entrusted  with  uncounted  gold.  I  am  proud  to  say 
that  many  of  you  can  stand  that  test.  But  there  is  one 
which  I  fear  none  of  you  can  stand — ^being  entrusted  with 
unmeasured  whiskey." 

It  will  be  noticed  that  Armstrong  says  that  if  Sumner 
had  known  of  the  sad  condition  of  the  soldiers  a  remedy 
would  have  been  found.  This  is  confirmation  of  what  I 
have  already  mentioned  of  his  tender  care  of  his  troops. 

Although  the  required  number  had  not  been  raised,  yet 
Sumner  was  able  on   the    14th   of  July,    17S1,  to   march 


42 

tVom  Salisbur\-  f(Tr  Greene's  camp  in  South  Camlina,  to 
take  Command  of  a  tliin  iDri^dde  of  one  thousand  men, 
distributed  into  three  bataUions,  commanded  b\-  Coloneh-; 
John  Baptista  Ashe,  John  Armstrong-,  and  Reading;' 
Blount.  Arms  had  been  received  cliietly  from  \'iri;inia, 
-r)nie  250  of  the  muskets  beiuL,^  excellent  weapons,  made  in 
!'hilaLlel}.)hia.  Idie  residue  consisted  of  old  weapons  on 
w  hich  repairs  were  made  after  reachini^-  camj). 

In  the  pleasant  hills  of  the  Santee  the  raw  soldiers, 
many  of  whom  were  conscrij^ted  because  of  their  deser- 
tion from  their  militia  duties,  were  tauL[ht  the  driHinii^and 
discipline  of  soldiers.  The  enem\-,  under  Stewart,  was 
near  the  confluence  of  the  Wateree  and  Con;^aree,  each 
arm\'  in  siyht  of  the  watch-fires  of  the  other.  Two  large 
ri\'ers  ran  between,  eftectualh'  preventing  surprises,  and 
the  operations  were  confined  to  cutting  off  con\'o\'s  and 
foraging  parties,  in  which  the  infantr\-  was  not  em- 
ployed. 

Greene  was  the  first  to  move.  On  the  22nd  of  August 
he  marched  uj)  the  Santee,  and  Stewart,  divining  his  in- 
tention to  cross,  fell  back  forty  miles  nearer  his  supplies 
at  Eutaw  Sj)rings,  where  the  battle  occurred.  In  this 
stubborn  conflict,  in  which  both  sides  displayed  the  loft>- 
qualities  for  which  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  is  distinguished, 
Sumner  and  his  brigade,  although  the  soldiers  were  new 
levies  with  onl\-  three  months'  training,  and  most  of  them 
had  never  before  been  in  battle,  midesuch  a  brilliant  charge 
as  to  win  from  General  Greene  the  strong  commendation, 
"I  was  at  a  loss  which  most  to  admire,  the  gallantr)'  of 
the  officers  or  the  good  conduct  of  the  men.  "  And 
again,  "The  North  Carolina  brigade  under  Sumner  were 
(M'dered  to  support  them,  and  though  not  abo\'e  t'.iree 
months  men,  behaved  nobly."  Go\'ernor  Martin  wrote: 
"  I  congratulate  you  on  the  honor  you  have  gained  at  the 


43 

head  of  the  North  CaroHna  arm\-  at  the  Eutaw."  And 
such  was  the  general  verdict.  Captain  Smyth,  the  Brit- 
ish officer  heretofore  mentioned,  speaks  of  Sumner's 
ha\'ing  "  distinguished  himself  in  the  course  of  the  late 
war,  being  the  General  Sumner  of  the  American  arm}', 
who  has  been  so  active  in  the   Carolinas." 

Although  the  glory  of  the  conceded  victor}-  was  de- 
nied the  Americans,  the  British  forces  hurried  off  to 
Charleston,  and  Greene,  weakened  b}'the  expiration  of  the 
term  of  service  of  so  many  of  his  men,  retired  to  his 
old  camp  among  the  hills  of  the  Santee.  soon  to  rejoice 
over  the  glorious  news  from  Yorktown.  Here  he  waited 
for  recruits  and  watched  the  enem}-. 

As  soon  as  the  camp  was  reached,  Sumner  at  Greene's 
request  returned  to  North  Carolina  for  a  second  time  on 
the  thankless  business  of  raising  new  forces  and  urging 
the  supplying  of  his  brigade  with  food  and  clothing. 
Colonel  Armstrong  wrote  on  February  13th,  1782.  from 
camp  at  Colonel  Shivers,  30  miles  from  Charleston: 
"Your  officers  and  soldiers  are  very  naked  and  no  hopes 
of  being  better.  ^  ■^  General  Greene  hath  asked 
me  several  times  if  I  had  any  accounts  from  you  and 
likewise  about  some  clothing  he  expected  you  to  send  to 
camp."  *  *  ''  Everything  in  this  State  seems  to 
be  in  our  favor.  The  Assembly  of  this  State  is  now  sit- 
ting at  Jacksonborough,  and  is  determined  to  raise  two 
regiments,  be  the  expense  what  it  will.  They  have  made 
a  present  of  ten  thousand  guineas  to  General  Greene,  to 
be  paid  in  land,  negroes  and  handsel  furniture  of  such 
estate  that  hath  been  confiscated  in  the  present  Assembl}-.'- 

On  April  7th,  1782,  an  official  report  signed  by  Henry 
Dixon,  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  2nd  reg-jment,-  a>nd  at- 
tested b}-  Major  J.  Burnett,  aid  de  camp  of  Greene,  shows', 
that  the  brigade  then  consisted  of  L154  nxen,  but  that  the 
terms  of  326.  would  expire   in   tlie   same    luonth,  299    in 


44 

May,  141  in  June,  and  so  on — 1,000  in  all  b)'  the  ist  of 
January,  1783 — leaving  only  i  54  for  service.  The  officers 
of  the  South  Carolina  line  and  of  the  legionar)'  corps  were 
authorized  by  Greene  to  enlist  North  Carolina  Continen- 
tals as  fast  as  discharged.  There  was  universal  apathy. 
The  currency  became  worthless,  and  people  in  defiance  of 
stringent  laws  began  to  refuse  to  accept  it.  Specie  began 
to  make  its  appearance  at  the  North,  but  very  little  found 
its  way  to  our  State.  There  was  no  "provision  made  for 
the  soldiers  when  recruited.  One  officer  writes  that  he 
lias  men,  but  no  food;  another  that  he  has  not  a  single 
blanket  to  his  company.  Another  that  his  drafted  men 
have  not  come  in,  and  if  he  obeys  Sumner's  order  to 
march  he  will  go  alone.  Another  says  that  the  men  came 
in  slowly,  and  that  numbers  desert,  "we  are  very  scarce 
of  provisions  and  under  the  necessity  of  impressing  from 
the  inhabitants  who  have  been  greatly  disturbed."  *  * 
The  people  will  make  very  little  corn  in  this  (Caswell) 
county." 

It  is  impossible  at  this  late  day  to  trace  with  any  min- 
uteness the  actions  of  General  Sumner  during  the  last 
eighteen  months  of  the  war.  As  no  great  movements  of  the 
armies  were  inaugurated  it  is  probable  that  he  remained  in 
North  Carolina,  prosecuting  his  duty  of  raising  troops. 
In  this,  his  efforts,  as  were  similar  efforts  in  other  States, 
had  little  success.  The  ravages  of  disease  in  the  low 
lands  of  South  Carolina  where  the  operations  were 
carried  on,  had  been  so  great  that  each  recruit  as  he  turned 
his  back  on  North  Carolina  felt  that  he  was  marching  to 
suffering  and  death.  Drafting  was  the  only  remedy,  and 
this  became  so  odious  that  only  one-third  of  those  liable 
in  North  Carolina  were  procured,  while  in  Virginia  and 
South  Carolina  the  authorities  refused  to  adopt  this 
method  of  replenishing  their  armies.  The  country 
seemed  exhausted,  and  the  long  prayed  for  peace  came 
none  too  soon. 


45 

On  the  23rd  of  April,  1783,  furloughs  were  granted  to 
the  North  CaroHna  soldiers,  and  they  returned  gladly  to 
their  homes.  In  some  few  places  they  were  received  with 
festivites  and  rejoicings,  but  most  of  them  settled 
■quietly  to  the  pursuits  of  peace.  It  should  be  remem- 
bered that  no  North  Carolina  soldiers  were  guilty  of  mu- 
tinous attempts  to  obtain  their  rights  by  force,  as  were 
those  of  various  other  States,  and  that  a  North  Carolinian 
i(Howe)  was  called  by  Washington  to  protect  the  Na- 
tional Legislature  from  the  threats  of  violence  of  mobs. 
Our  officers  and  privates  were  content  to  rely  on  the 
sense  of  justice  of  their  State  government,  and  history 
shows  that  all  was  done  that  could  be  done  by  a  ruined 
people.  Large  grants  of  the  fertile  lands  of  Tennessee 
were  made  them,  including  25,000  acres  to  General 
»Greene,  while  General  Sumner's  share  was  12,000  acres. 
A  commission  was  appointed  to  settle  and  pay  the  just 
•dues,  which  the  Continental  Congress  had  failed  to  dis- 
charge. 

In  the  closing  years  of  the  war  only  the  energy  gen- 
erated by  fears  of  defeat  and  ruin  had  kept  up  the  people 
to  the  fighting  point.  After  the  capture  of  Cornwallis 
there  was  a  universal  feeling  that  the  war  was  practically 
over.  The  exertions,  which  were  the  fruit  of  terror  and 
dispair,  gave  way  to  supineness  and  lethargy.  The  poor 
soldiers,  far  from  home,  seemed  to  have  been  forgotten. 
In  some  commands  there  were  mutinies  and  threats  to 
enforce  their  rights  at  the  point  of  the  bayonets.  An 
Alexander,  a  Caesar,  a  Napoleon,  might  have  urged  the 
fierce  discontent  of  the  army  for  the  auguration  of  a  mili- 
tary despotism.  The  great  and  good  Washington,  by 
the  union  of  kindly  sympathy  and  occasional  force, 
quieted  these  troubles.  The  brave  soldiers  who  encoun- 
tered all  the  sufferings  which  can  afflict  mankind,  hunger, 
thirst,  nakedness,  disease,  wounds,  separation  from  loved 


46-      • 

•)ncs,  apparent  inL^ratituclc  and  iic.L;"lcct  trfjni  those  in  civil" 
authority,  otficcrs  whose  fame  will  ne\'er  (lie,  and  their 
humble  followers,  "unnameLl  demigods  of  histor\',"  hung- 
up their  swru'ds  and  their  niuskets  on  the  bar:  walls  of 
their  ruined  dwellini^'s,  and  addressed  themselves  man- 
fulK'  to  repairin.'^"  their  shattered  tortup.es  and  lax'ing'  the 
foundation  (■■(  the  Great  Republic  of  the  worl;:l.  As  S.  S. 
I'rentiss  so  beaulitully  said  to  the  returned  soldiers  from 
tlie  Mexican  v.'ar:  "Thus  the  dark  thunder  cloud  at  Na- 
ture's summons  marshals  its  black  batallions  and  hovers 
in  the  horizon.',  but  at  len.g'th  its  lightnings  spent,  its  nission 
finished,  its  dread  artillery  silenced,  it  melts  awav  into 
the  blue  eth.er,  and  the  next  morning  m^iy  be  four.d  glit- 
rering  in  the  dew  drops  among  the  flowers,  or  assisting, 
by  its  kindl}'  moisture  the  growth,  of  the  youn.g  and  ten- 
der plants." 

General  Sumner  was  exempt  from  some  of  the  trials 
suffered  by  his  compatriots.  He  was  a  man  of  large 
possessions.  His  home  was  not  in  the  track  of  the  ar- 
mies'and  suffered  no  injur\-  from  rude  soldier)'.  His 
neighbors  were  all  lo\-al  to  America  and  we  find  no. 
depredations  of  Tories  or  deserters  in  Bute.  His  pru- 
dence kept  him  from  debt.  In  the  midst  of  admiring 
friends,  enjoying  the  satisfaction  of  a  well-earned  repu- 
tation, he  spent  the  residue  of  his  days  in  the  manage- 
ment of  his  estate,  tlve  care  of  his  slaves  and  his  blooded 
horses,  the  training  of  his  children  and  the  exercise  of  a. 
generous  hospitality.  His  wife  probabl}'  died  during  the 
war,  as  she  seems  to  have  been  living  in  178 1,  and  was 
not  living  in  1785. 

Only  once  was  he  induced  to  leave  his  privacy.  Iiv 
1784  was  formed  the  Societ}-  of  the  Cincinnati,  composed 
of  officers  of  the  Continental  army.  Its  nam-e  was  taken' 
from  the  personification  of  Washington  called  like  Cin- 
cinnatus  of  old  from-  his  farm  to-  the  salvation  of  his  coup.- 


47 

\ry.  It  was  designed  to  pei'pctu.ite  the  feelings  of  pa- 
triotism and  brotherl}'  affection  engendered  by  the  long 
struggle  together  for  Independence,  and  provide  for  the 
indigent  in  their  ranks.  Washington  was  its  President 
General.  General  Sumner  was  President  of  the  North 
Carolina  division  and  presided  over  a  meeting  of  the  del- 
gates  at  Hillsboro  on  April  13th.  As  delegates  to  the 
general  body  he  appointed  /Xrchibald  Lyttle,  Maj.  Read- 
ing Blount  and  Maj.  Griffith  J.McRee.  As  in  the  original 
incorporation  the  primogeniture  principle  was  contempla- 
ted, fears  entered  the  public  mind  that  the  Societ}'  was 
an  entering  wedge  for  the  introduction  of  an  aristocracy 
into  our  country.  This  hostilit}'.  coupled  with  the  diffi- 
culty of  communication  in  this  large  but  thinly  settled 
State  gave  it  a  short. life  here.  In  sorRe  of  the  States  it 
still  flourishes,  Hamilton  Fish,  of  New  York,  being  the 
successor  of  Washington  as  President  General.  From  it 
is  derived  the  name  of  one  of  the  most  flourishing  cities 
of  the  West. 

Before  closing,  I  must  give  you  some  details  throwing 
•light  upon  General  Sumner  as  a  citizen. 

We  have  the  inventory  of  his   effects,    returned   by  his 
<^xecutors.     Including  the  bounty  lands'in  Tennessee,  he 
left  over  20,000  acres  of  land,  besides  town  lots  in   Hali- 
fax, Louisburg  and  Smithfield,  in  Virginia.   He  owned  two 
valuable  farms  in   Warren  county,  one  called  his  "Manor 
Plantation  "  and  the  other  his  "  Bute  Court   House  Plan- 
tation."    On  them  were  thirty-five  slaves,  nearly  all  able 
to  work"  and  seventeen  horses,  some  of  them  racers;  and 
about  240  hogs,    twenty   sheep    and    eighty-six    head    of 
other    cattle.     The  possession    of  this    large  amount    of 
stock,  together  with  150  barrels  of  old  corn  and  a  quan- 
tit}'  of  bacon  and  beef  and  "six   hogsheads  of  prized  to- 
bacco and   about  two   to   prize,"    as  late  as    the    15th    of 
March,   after   the    winter    was    passed,  is    a    pretty  good 


showing'  for  his  manag"ement.  The  mention  ofa  "  quan- 
tit}'  of  quart  bottles,  some  rum,  brand}-,  c>'der  and  wine,'" 
five  large  China  bowls  and  four  small  ditto,  shows  that  he 
kept  up  the  convivial  habits  which  distinguished  Warrert 
society  for  so  many  years,  while  the  "  one  chamber 
chair  "  suggests  that  the  war-worn  veteran,  after  leaving 
his  active  army  life,  may  have  contractexl  by  too- 
generous  living  tliat  affliction  fomierl}-  called  the  aristo- 
cratic disease,  the  gout,  exceedingl}-  common  in  that  day. 
There  is  an  enumeration  of  large  quantities  of  earthen- 
ware and  china,  silver  and  ivory-handled  knives  and 
forks,  "  two  square  tables,  two  round  tables  ajird  two  tea 
ditto,."  which  shows  that  he  was  accustomed  to  exercise 
bountiful  hospitalit}'.  As  memeatos  of  his  army  expe- 
rience we  find  ;^2,374,  9s,  6d,  of  army  certificates,  his 
silver-handled  sword,  bequeathed  to  his  eldest  son,  his 
fire-arms  bequeathed  to  his  second  so^n,  ajid  "his  camp- 
beds,  bedsteads  and  furniture,"  which  he  g^ave  to-  his 
daughter.  The  silver  salver,  silver  spoons,  "  large  and 
small,"  silver-handled  aad  ivory-handled  kiuves,  china- 
ware  and  other  furniture,  gold  watch  and  silver  watch, 
show  that  he  lived  in  good  style,  while  his  division  of  his 
"printed  books V  between  his  two  sons,  in  that  day  whent 
books  were  quite  rare,  indicates  tliat  he  had  some  taste, 
for  literature. 

The  end  was  much  nearer  than  the  ag-e  of  fiftv-t  wo  )-ears 
would  seem  to  make  probable.  The  e.xposures  of  war 
from  the  bitter  cold  of  Valley  Forge  to  the  fever  swamps 
of  South  Carolina,  whence  deadly  miasma  rises  almost 
like  a  visible  mist,  underm-ined  his  strong  constitution- 
General  Sumner's  will  is  dated  March  15th,  17S5,  and  the 
inventory  returned  by  his  executors  is  dated  March  iQth^ 
1785,30  that  he  must  have  died  between  these  dates. 

I  regret  that  I  can  ascertain  nothing"  satisfactory  about 
General  Sumner's  wife.  Sm\-th  states,  as  I  have  mention- 


49 

ed,  that  she  was  )'oung  at  the  time  of  tlie  marriai;o.  of 
i^''()od  family  and  of  a  handsome  fortune.  Wheeler  says 
that  she  was  a  wid  )\v  Heiss,  of  New  Berne,  but  none  of 
the  (dd  inhabitants  of  that  town  know  anv'thiiiL;"  about 
her.  General  Sumner  bequeaths  to  his  dau^^^hter  the 
"clothing-  and  jewels  of  his  wife,  now  in  possession  of 
Airs.  Long-,  of  Halifax."  Mrs.  Long  of  Halifa.x,  the 
widow  of  Col.  Xicholas  Long,  the  Commissar_\'-General, 
was  a  notable  lady,  whose  maiden  name  was  AIcKinnie, 
and,  from  the  fact  that  Mrs.  Sumner's  clothing  and  jew- 
els were  left  with  her,  coupled  with  the  fact  that  one  of 
her  sons  was  named  McKinnie  Hurst,  and  further  that  it 
appears  from  an  act  of  the  General  Assembl}',  disentail- 
ing some  lands,  that  the  McKinnies  and  Hursts  were  re- 
lated, the  presumption  is  that  she  was  either  a  McKinnie 
or  a  Hurst,  nearl)-  related  to  Mrs.  Long-.  This  presump- 
tion is  streng-thened  b\'  the  fact  that  one  of  the  devisees 
of  Sumner's  lands,  in  case  of  the  death  of  all  his  chil- 
dren in  their  minority,  was  Nicholas  Long,  Jr.,  a  son  of 
Mrs.  Long-. 

General  Sumner  left  three  children,  all  minors.  We 
do  not  know  the  dates  of  his  marriage  or  of  the  birth  of 
any  of  his  children,  except  Jacky  Sullivan,  who  married 
Thomas  Blount,  a  brother  of  Major  Reading  Blount,  one 
of  Sumner's  Colonels.  She  changed  her  name  to  Mary 
Sumner  Blount,  and  died  in  1823.  She  was  born  in  1778 
and  was  probably  the  }'oungest  child.  The  two  sons 
were  Thomas  Edward  and  Mc Kinney  Hurst.  To  the 
former  doubtless  the  oldest  child,  w.'vs  devised  his  Manor 
Plantation.  To  McKinney  Hurst,  the  Bute  Court  House 
Plantation.  In  case  either  should  die  in  their  minority 
the  other  was  to  have  the  whole.  If  all  his  children 
should  che  in  their  minority  his  lands  were  to  go  to  Nich- 
olas Long.  Jr.,  and  the  oldest  son  of  Benjamin  McCul- 
lock  aud  James  Gray.     His   executors    nomin^ated   were 


50 


l^eniaiiiin  AlcCullock,  Jr>lin  l^apti^ta  Aslie  YonnL;  AIc- 
Lcmon  and  James  Gre}',  but  only  McCullock  and  (jrc\- 
qualified.  The  s<)ns  died  without  issue,  and  so  all  the 
propert}-  final!}-  vestetl  in  Airs.  Jack)'  Sullixan  i.or  M  ir\- 
Sumner  Hlount)  and  was  by  her  scattered  amonc;'  sixt\- 
lec^'atees,  incku.linL;'  the  I^piscj^al  church  of  KaleiL^ii  and 
friend.s  who  had  been  kind  to  her.  Her  hu.'^banLl  wms  a 
member  of  Con;_;'ress  of  the  United  States,  and  one  of  the 
commissioners  to  locate  the  Capital  and  a!s(>  the  L^niversitw 
I'd'om  the  fire^'oinc^  sketch,  hastily  prei)ared  h"om  ma- 
terials scattered  throuL,di  scores  oi  manuscript  letters  antl 
numerous  printed  br)oks,  we  are  able  to  estimate  what 
manner  of  man  Jethro  Sumner  was.  Me  was  not  a  i^x-- 
nius;  he  had  little  education  deri\-ed  from  bioks.  Hut  he 
had  a  L^enerc^us  nature  and  a  bii^  heart.  One  of  his  colc)- 
nels  writes,  "  Dear  General,  }'ou  are  no  strani^^er  to  our 
sufferings;  we  have  our  eyes  u[)on  y(3u  as  our  support  in 
our  hour  of  need."  They  did  not  lean  on  a  broken  reed, 
but  on  a  sturdy  oaken  staff  He  had  a  stroni;'  heat!  and 
sound  common  sense.  General  Greene  and  Governor 
Nash  and  scores  of  militar\'  leaders  in  the  dark  hours  of 
■a  desolated  State,  of  civil  strife,  of  ruined  currency,  of 
despondency  and  of  terror,  asked  the  aid  of  his  sai^acity 
and  pluck,  and  asked  not  in  wain.  He  had  a  long-  expe- 
rience in  actual  military  service  in  the  field  through  most 
of  the  French  war,  and  from  the  burning  of  Norfolk,  Jan- 
uary 1st,  1776,  until  the  close  in  1783,  in  fierce  battles,  in 
laborious  m.arches,  in  drear}'  encampments,  in  thankless 
recruiting  service,  from  a  Lieutei-iant  to  a  l^rigatiier- 
General's  place.  Although  not  brilliaiU,  he  was  ;ilwa}-s 
faithful  and  reliable,  performing  his  full  dutv  without  fd- 
tering  and  without  a  murmur.  In  all  his  letters  we  find 
no  carping  at  superiors,  no  jealous}-  of  equals,  ho  de- 
,spondenc}'  or  cowardice  of  heart.  He  was  a  lo}-al,  brave. 
true,  gallant  soldier.     He  had  no  art  to    push   himself,  or 


•51 

publish  his  cxph^its.  He  kept  no  predecessor  ot 
the  iiiodern  newspaper  correspondent  in  his  tent  in 
order  to  puff  liim  into  notoriet)'.  He  chd  his  whole  duty 
and  made  no  boast.  He  left  no  posterit\-  to  keep  his 
fame  burnished.  The  noble  State  love  of  Judge  Schenck 
has  brous^'ht  his  bones  from  their  secluded  restin<;-place 
in  the  woods  of  AVarren  to  this  beautiful  battle  park, 
where  his  monument  can  be  seen  and  his  name  read  by 
countless  visitors.  He  has  likewise  caused  me  to  e.x- 
hume  his  military  and  civil  record  from  musty  manu- 
scripts and  notices  scattered  in  many  books,  and  expose  it 
to  the  eyes  of  all  who  take  interest  in  the  deeds  and  suf- 
ferings of  our  forefathers.  J  thank  him  and  his  committee 
for  putting  this  task  upon  me. 

F"ellow  Citizens:  I  have  endeavored  to  give  you  a  truth- 
ful account,  not  making  the  ^^ubject  of  my  address  a  hero 
impossible  to  be  imitated,  or  an  unapproachable  saint,  but 
exactly  as  he  was — a  man,  a  gentle-man,  whom  all  should 
know  and  love.  I  hope,  in  view  of  all  his  sacrifices  for 
us  and  our  liberties,  in  view  of  his  kindly  acts  to  our  suf- 
fering ancestors,  you  will  join  m.e  in  thanks  to  the  giver 
•of  all  good,  because  of  His  gift  to  North  Carolina  of 
"  Jethro  Sumner,  one  of  the  Heroes  of  1776."* 

*  This  is  the  inscriiv'tii'n  du  Sumner's  mouuiiK-nt. 


Note. — By  a  shp  of  memory  it  is  slated  on  page  34  that  Sumner 
joined  in  the  advice  to  Lincoln  to  cross  the  Savannah    in   Novem- 
ber, instead  of  .April,  1779.     Ashe's  defeat  was  in  November  1779,  //>*'^-* £--^ 
and  of  course  did  not  iVustrate  the  movement.  K.   P.    B. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00020346136 


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